A Message in Time and Space
by 1337kitsune
Summary: Bad Wolf had been a message. A message to lead a small Pink and Yellow human back to her old and broken Time Lord. Nothing had changed. Bad Wolf had seen it all. She knew what would come of Torchwood. So she left one more message for her Pink and Yellow human to find, because to leave them apart was simply wrong. x The Doctor in the TARDIS with Rose Tyler. As it should be.
1. A Message

Dårlig Ulv-Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay. Also known as the location for the worst day in Rose Tyler's life. She could live for thousands of years and still she would always view this day as her worst.

_I can't think of what to say!_

It was here on this beach that she had been forced to finally admit that she would never see her Doctor again. Never see him smile or laugh...never see him go off onto one of his mad tirades or rants. She would forever be stuck in this parallel world. Darlig. Dalek. Stranden. Stranded. She was stranded in this world because of the bloody daleks...it always seemed to come back to them in the end. The Doctor's eternal enemy.

_Rose Tyler. Defender of the Earth. _

She remembered everything about that day, even if it was things she would rather forget. The way his hair had been tousled, as if he had repeatedly run his hands through his hair. Skin pale enough that she could see his freckles. Puffy and baggy eyes, as if he hadn't gotten sleep in God knows how long. She didn't care what he said about "_superior Time Lord biology_" he still needed sleep like any other living creature. And his eyes... Pain that was only outmatched by her own.

_Am I ever gonna see you again?_

Even though she knew every inch of this new face of his, being there since the beginning and having actually caused it, this was one expression she had hoped never to see. A mixture of grief and rage...and self-loathing. And something...hidden deep within the eyes that she didn't dare name. Not now.

_You can't._

Holding on was harder than she would have thought. She had only managed to get about a minute into the conversation before the tears had started coming. Oh she had tried to hold them back...but she couldn't. It was a mixture of grief and relief. She would never see him again, that she knew...but she was so relieved she had finally said it. The thing that had been left unsaid between them for far, far too long.

_I lo- I love you._

Really she had known both of their feelings from the start. It was in everything they did together. Every look, every touch, every hug, every single adventure. They loved each other. Absolutely. Unashamedly. Unreservedly. Even though Rose loathed to sum it up in a word as simple as love it was the only thing she could really do. Besides...he had known all along.

_Quite right, too. _

So sure. She had been _so sure_ that she would hear those words. Even if she already knew, and even if she knew those words would hurt them both so, so much...a part of her still yearned to hear them. To know something was one thing, to hear it said in words was another thing entirely...and she wanted so much to hear those words said back to her.

_And I suppose...if it's one last chance to say it..._

The second he had locked eyes with her she knew. Without a doubt what he had been about to say. She knew every single emotion on his face, even if he tried to hide it, and this one was the one she had loved to see the most. They knew they only had seconds left before they were cut off for good. And they knew that this may only hurt them as soon as the shock of knowing the other was gone settled in...but they also each longed for this. More than anything.

_Rose Tyler-_

He never got to say it though. Even though Rose Tyler knew what those next three words would have been she still couldn't stop the heartbroken sob that escaped her, nor the tears that now freely poured down her cheeks. It was useless to sit and cry when it would change nothing, she knew that. Her travels with the Doctor had taught her that more than anything. Crying solved nothing...but it still didn't stop the tears.

As Jackie Tyler ran forward to embrace her daughter Rose shuddered, the name of the beach they were on floating into her head once again. Dårlig Ulv-Stranden. Bad Wolf Bay. _Why_ Bad Wolf though. Why now, why here? Bad Wolf was gone, taken out by her Doctor to save her life. But still...still it was here... And that werewolf...

_Look! Inside your eyes! You've seen it too!_

Even if it had been for only a few short minutes she had still been the Bad Wolf. She had seen all of Time and all of it's complexities, everything that had ever happened, ever would, never would, and might just. She may not have remembered being the Wolf but she had remembered one thing.

_The Wolf! There is something of the Wolf about you!_

Bad Wolf had been a message. All throughout Time and Space it was leading her to the Doctor. Back with Gwyneth in 18th century Cardiff. The young boy who had spray-painted the words onto the side of the TARDIS. The poster she had seen back when he had taken her to see her father. Margret the Slitheen and her project which she had called Blaidd Drwg. And the Gamestation that had taken them captive. The words sprayed all around the Powell Estate.

_I am the Bad Wolf. I create myself. I take the words... I scatter them in time and space. A message to lead myself here. _

Bad Wolf had seen it all. All of time. She knew that this had been coming, that Rose would be torn from the Doctor's side by Torchwood's meddling. Bad Wolf had seen it all so she had left the young human yet another message.

_But if it's a message, what's it sayin'?_

A message to tell her that not all hope was lost. She was Rose Marion Tyler. She had faced Gelth and Daleks. Werewolves and Cybermen. Parallel worlds and Devils. She was not going to give up now. She would let herself cry, just for today. Just this one day she would let her grief show. And then she would do what she did best. She would _fight_ to get to her Doctor's side.

_It's tellin' me I can get back!_

She had promised him forever and he was damn well going to get forever! She didn't care if he was a bloody Time Lord or that she was trapped in an parallel world and cut off from hers. She would find him and then she would either slap him or snog the hell out of him.

It was probably going to end up both.

* * *

I have much to say about this. Quite a bit. First off, why am I doing this? Because I can! Look, all you see is series 3 and 4 rewrites. Don't get me wrong, I love them all. (Especially With Starlight in Their Wake) But I have been dying to see 5 and on rewrites. I have found none. So what do I do? Create my very first Doctor Who story. Ever.

Guys. This is going to be a long, bumpy ride. I won't lie to you...I am coming up with this as I go. I mean...really...I have no freaking clue what I'm doing... But you just get one of those ideas, you know? One of those small niggling ideas and you can't stop. You just _have_ to do it. No matter what.

The Doctor in the TARDIS with Rose Tyler. As it should be.

x

Que? Que...just... I know. You can kill me. It's okay. I'll come back as the Guardian of Fate after all! No? Okay...well... I'll just... Go hide then.


	2. You Are Not Alone

You all are just burning up my email, I hope you know that. It makes me very happy. *glomps all the readers and reviewers* So, as you guessed by this chapter I'll be re-writing a few scenes here and there before we get to final reunion. Then...*chuckles* That's where it gets interesting!

Oh yeah! Disclaimer! I do not own Doctor Who, all affiliated Doctor Who associations belong to BBC. If you recognize something then it is probably not mine. XD See, if I owned the show...well... For one Rose wouldn't be gone. And River? Well...let's just say...

Spoilers.

* * *

Martha grinned as car 4-6-5-Diamond-6 touched down in front of the New, New York Senate and opened it's doors. _Finally_. She knew the Doctor would come through for her in the end but it had still been rather scary, being stuck down there on the fast lane with no clue as to what was going on and only knowing something down there was trying to kill them.

She half-wondered if former companions had ever been in such dangerous situations.

"Doctor?" Martha called out happily while leaping into the control room, happy to finally be able to see the man she had followed again. Seeing something out of the corner of her eye that she was all to familiar with she stopped dead, good mood quickly starting to flee. Skeletons were laying all around the room.

None of her medical training had prepared her for seeing all of the skeletons that were laying around the broken and falling apart room. She had thought seeing the future would be amazing...but this... She wondered if things like this went hand-in-hand with the Doctor. Beauty _and_ destruction.

"Over here." Hearing the subdued voice of the Doctor Martha grinned and ran towards him. Destruction may have followed him but she still wouldn't have traded this traveling for anything.

"Doctor!" Running forward she saw the pinstripe suit and grinned, "What happened out there?" The rest of her questions died on her lips as she saw what was in front of her. The Doctor was kneeling along with what looked like a human version of a cat. Between the two of them was a large tan-colored head. Even at the pure alien of the scene in front of her though the medical student part of her saw just how sickly the head was looking. "What's that?"

"It's the Face of Boe," the Doctor replied quietly, as if he was at the sickbed of a dear friend of his. "It's all right. Come and say hello." Martha tentatively walked towards the three as the Doctor started talking again. "And this is Hame. She's a cat. Don't worry." As soon as he had finished he looked back towards the Face of Boe, a mixture of sadness and regret on his face. "Hes' the one that saved you, not me."

"My lord gave his life to save the city," the cat, Hame the Doctor had said, spoke. Martha noticed as she knelt beside her that her voice sounded reverent and respectful. "And now he's dying."

"No, don't say that. Not old Boe. Plenty of life left." Even as he spoke Martha knew he was grasping and struggling to believe his own words. She had seen it too many times when she had been working the hospital, family and friends saying the patient had their whole life left, even if they really didn't.

"_It's good to breathe the air once more,_" the Face of Boe sighed, although to Martha it hadn't sounded like he had been talking. It was more as if she had heard his voice in her head...telepathic, maybe?

"Who is he?" Martha asked, curious to know who this person was that had saved all of the people trapped on the motorway, and who the Doctor seemed so worried about. She had seen the expression on his face now before, when he mentioned the person who had traveled with him before, Rose. Although this expression was less subdued than that one... It really hit her sometimes just how little of a chance she had with the man she was falling in love with.

"I don't even know," the Doctor replied, glancing up at her. "Legend says the Face of Boe has lived for billions of years. Isn't that right?" Martha couldn't help the small smile that crawled to her lips as he described him. He would have a made a wonderful storyteller. "And you're not about to give up now." The way he had said it sounded like a statement of fact more than a plea.

"_Everything has it's time_," the Face spoke once again into their minds, "_You know that, old friend, better than most_." Martha wasn't sure if Boe had been referring to his race, the Time Lords, the fact that he was older than what he seemed, or something else entirely. It seemed to be a mixture of all three.

"The legend says more," Hame shakily spoke up, the Doctor looking up at her sharply from the other side of the dying Face of Boe. Martha could see some of the alarm in his face as he spoke.

"Don't. There's no need for that." Even if his voice was quiet Martha could hear the swirl of emotions hidden within, even if she didn't know what half of them were. She looked back over to Hame as she spoke once again.

"It says the Face of Boe will speak his final secret to a traveler." As she spoke the human moved her gaze back to the dying alien in front of her. What would the final secret be of an alien who had lived for billions of years?

"Yeah, but not yet," the Doctor spoke in an assured tone. "Who needs secrets, eh?"

"_I have seen so much. Perhaps too much. I am the last of my kind – as you are the last of yours, Doctor._" Martha scrunched her brow and looked up in confusion at the Doctor. What did he mean by_ that_? Last of his kind?

"That's why we have to survive." The young girl could feel the tears coming to her eyes at the tone in the Doctor's voice. It sounded so sad and full of grief, the tone that some of the older doctors had back at the hospital. The ones who had seen far too much death. "Both of us... Don't go." She could tell the Doctor didn't want this, not at all. How many more friends could he lose?

"_I must. But there are two things you must know, Time Lord. _You are not alone. The wolf is howling." Martha started as the last words were said out loud instead of into their minds. Chancing a glance up at the Doctor she saw that he looked shocked, by which part though she couldn't tell.

Slowly standing up Martha looked at the dead alien with respect while beside her Hame finally cried, the grief hitting her full force. The Doctor looked absent as he put an arm around her shoulders. There was too much said that didn't make sense to her. Boe had said he was the last of his kind but he wasn't alone? As for the last few words...

What did a wolf have to do with anything?

* * *

youtube com/watch?v=L28CnhmeAD4

*cackles*


	3. Remembrance

So, just finished this chapter. But I ain't uploading till tomorrow. *cackles* Sorry. You got your chapter today. I need to build up so buffers for when I really get going. So... Yeah. Enjoy once I post this...which...

Argh! Time is so confusing!

* * *

"Ask them."

"What me?" This was it. The Doctor had to have finally lost his mind after years and years of traveling the universe. Her? Going up and asking a bunch of bloody Daleks what they were doing? "Don't be daft." They would _exterminate _her.

"I don't exactly want to get noticed," the Doctor explained quickly and urgently. "Ask them what's going on." It wasn't so much as him asking her as him commanding her to do it. Taking a deep breath, and making a mental note to slap the hell out of him when they got out of this, Martha stepped forward.

"Daleks! I demand to be told. What is this...Final Experiment?" As the large alien rolled around to stare at her she had to give herself a pat on the back for not having a nervous breakdown. The basic idea of these things, _pepper pots on wheels_, seemed so much more silly in her head. Now they were just plain terrifying. "Report!"

"You will bear witness," the Dalek responded in that halting mechanical speech of theirs. It was the speech more than anything that gave her shivers. It just sounded so...inhuman. At least with other alien species you could hear the emotion in their voices... Daleks though... All you could hear was hate and anger and rage.

"To what?"

"This is the dawn of a new age," the alien spoke as it's head turned around to gesture to the thing in front of the group of humans before turning back to face her. Glancing back and not seeing the Doctor in her line of sight she realized she would have to take care of this herself.

"What does that mean?" And if her voice sounded like that of a scared child, well...not like anyone could possibly blame her at this point. Staring down the eyestalk of a Dalek was something easier said than done.

"We are the only four Daleks so the species must evolve a life outside the shell. The Children of Skaro must walk again." And if that didn't cause Martha more questions than answers she didn't know what would. She understood the part about there being only four left but what on Earth did they mean by a life outside their shell? And what was the Children of Skaro?

As the casing opened on the Dalek in the middle she couldn't help but reach back to grab the hand of one of the men behind her. At this point it could be either Frank or the Doctor, she just wanted to know she wasn't alone on this. It looked human when she first saw it, the clothing unmistakably that of Diagoras, the man who had basically sent them down there to get killed. The rest of it though...that looked nothing like a human.

"What is it?" No matter how hard she tried she couldn't keep the sheer horror out of her voice at what she was seeing. If she thought the Daleks on their own had been scary then this was something else entirely.

"I am a human Dalek. I am your future."

::

"These...humans will become like me." As what was left of Dalek Sec talked the Doctor's expression grew calculating as he slipped behind the machinery, unnoticed. The last thing he wanted right now was to be noticed...not yet. "Prepare them for hybridisation."

As the pig slaves closed in on Martha and the other prisoners the Doctor hoped his plan would work, otherwise...well... He didn't really need to think of what would happen if it didn't work.

"Leave me alone! Don't you dare!" As Martha struggled against the pig slaves music notes started wafting around the room. The young human managed to place it as Happy Days are Here Again, an oldie if there ever was one, well...oldie for her at least.

"What is that sound?" Sec asked, although it sounded more than anything like a command for information. As soon as the words were out the Doctor stepped out from behind a large piece of machinery, an old-fashioned radio in his hands that Martha had only ever seen in pictures.

"Ah, well now, that would be me," a smile twitched his lips as he set the radio down on one of the lab tables. "Hello. Surprise. Boo. Et cetera." If they made it out of this alive Martha was going to have a serious talk with him about his dramatic tendencies. How this Rose she kept hearing about survived him she would never know.

"Doctor," Sec breathed, sounding surprised at his appearance. Behind him one of the Daleks rolled towards them before speaking.

"The enemy of the Daleks! Wait...where is your companion!" At this the Doctor's brow furrowed. His only companion was Martha, and she was standing right behind him. Or did they not know that the girl they had was the one who traveled with him? "Where is the Destroyer of the Emperor!" No...they couldn't... "Where is she! Where is Rose Tyler!"

"Where is the Bad Wolf!"

As the Doctor felt himself stop breathing, most likely out of shock, behind him Martha felt like screaming. Even the bloody Daleks knew about Rose! Did she really have that low of a chance with him?!

"Where is she!" As the Dalek demanded her location the young human flinched back at the look in the Doctor's eyes. He usually looked and acted so human that she forgot he was alien sometimes...but now...now he really did look like an alien. He looked every inch the powerful Time Lord he claimed to be... He looked...

Like a Storm.

::

"No! Solomon!" As the scream rang out the Doctor felt his rage rise. Why... Why. Why. Why. Why did death always have to follow him no matter where he went?! While Frank rushed to the dead man's side and Martha was glued to the ground, filled with shock and horror, the Doctor scowled and looked back up at the floating menaces that he hated with all of his being.

"Daleks!" The Doctor moved forward to stand in front of them, arms held out in invitation to the horrors above him. "Alright so it's my turn! Then kill me! Kill me if it'll stop you attacking these people!" That was only one reason as to why he was doing this...it wasn't fair. Death followed him EVERYWHERE! If it hadn't been for him then Rose... Rose and Jackie and Mickey they would all be back at the Powell Estate. Happy.

"I will be the destroyer of our greatest enemy!" As the Doctor responded and commanded the Dalek to do it he couldn't help but think that Rose would be horrified by his actions... Then again... If it hadn't been for Donna and that Christmas fiasco he probably wouldn't have even made it this far. "Extermin- I do not understand. It is the Doctor." As the Doctor watched he lowered his arms, shocked at what he was seeing. A Dalek was...changing it's mind?

"The urge to kill is too strong! ...I...obey," the Dalek finally replied. Just what was going on. The only other time he had seen a Dalek not kill something was...was with Rose, down in Van Statten's bunker. The one that had assimilated a bit of her DNA.

"What's going on?" he shouted, still looking up at the Dalek floating in the sky. Maybe...if these were changing too...

"You will follow," the Dalek commanded while looking down at the Doctor, who was too shocked to really reply. A Dalek had just changed it's mind. Daleks _never_ change their minds and yet these had... So what was going on... Maybe...maybe he had a reason to keep going after all, just for a little while longer at least.

::

"I don't know. Anywhere else in the universe, I might worry about them," the Doctor said while watching the sailing ships with Martha beside him. "But New York, that's what this city's good at. Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, and maybe the odd pig-slave-Dalek-mutant-hybrid too.

"The pig and the showgirl," Martha laughed from beside him, and the Doctor couldn't help his answering grin as he looked down at her for a second.

"The pig and the showgirl." As he said it he couldn't help but think that Rose would have loved that one, probably would have followed after him when he left with the Daleks too. Never did let him out of her sight for long, not that he minded.

"Just proves it, I suppose," Martha spoke up, still grinning. "There's someone for everyone." As the words sunk in the Doctor couldn't help it as his smile disappeared. Someone for everyone... That was a nice thought...a nice sentiment.

"Maybe." That was the Doctor's only reply as he turned back to the TARDIS, intent on taking Martha back home now that her trip was over. If he had stayed in his spot a little longer, or even looked up, he would have seen both Martha's disappointed expression and the words that had been written in chalk on the wall beside them. Two words that seemed to shimmer in the light when looked at in a certain way.

Bad Wolf.

* * *

Evil? Yes. Guilty? No.


	4. The Very Last

Oh I spoil you all...do you know that? You guys have to be some of the most spoiled reviewers/readers ever! I mean, you're getting a chapter a day for heaven's sake! Oh but just you wait...when I get to the serious re-writes... *cackles* You'll be waiting for so long!

Regrets? Me? Nope. None.

* * *

The Doctor stared out the window of the Valiant blankly, showing no emotion on his aged face as the music slowly cut out behind him. He was used to this by now, it had been almost the same thing every day for a year.

"It's ready to rise, Doctor," the Master spoke, looking out the window before back at him, excited. "The new Time Lord Empire. It's good, isn't it?" He asked as a small group of Toclafane drifted past outside. "Isn't it good? Anything? No? Anything?" The Master sounded somewhat annoyed as he waved his hand up and down in front of the Doctor's unmoving eyes. "Oh, but they broke your hearts, didn't they? Those Toclafane, ever since you worked out what they really are."

The Doctor knew what the other Time Lord was doing. He was trying to find an exposed nerve, trying to find a way to cause him pain and grief. He had been doing the same thing for a countless number of centuries by now, and the Doctor did his best to not let it show each time. How every word sliced through him.

"They say Martha Jones...has come back home." At this the Master internally grinned at finally getting a response, even if it was only a dry stare. The Doctor never could resist trying to defend his companions, even if he had no power to do so. "Now why would she do that?"

"Leave her alone." One statement. One statement that showed he would _not_ let harm fall to his companions. Not if he could help it.

"Oh but you said something to her, didn't you? On the day I took control... Although I suppose it doesn't really matter in the end. The Big, Bad Wolf is at the door Doctor, and it's howling," the Master grinned, but stopped as he soon saw the reaction his words had caused. It was almost like the Doctor had _flinched_. But over what... "Oh? Now there's a reaction...but a reaction to what?"

"Why those words?" The Master's brow furrowed as he looked over at the old man sitting in front of him. "Why the Big Bad Wolf?" At this his brow furrowed even more.

"Does it really matter?" the Master asked, confused as to how those three words had gotten more of a reaction out of him in the past few seconds than anything he had said in the past year. "Well?"

"I only have one thing to say to you. You know what it is."

"Oh, no you don't!" the Master exclaimed, jumping up as he pushed the wheelchair away until it steadily ran into a nearby wall. It didn't really matter why those words had struck the Doctor, he had more important matters to attend to. Like...a whole new universe to control?

"Valiant_ now entering Zone One airspace. Citizens rejoice!" _

"Come on, people!" the Master shouted while clapping his hands in a show of attention. "What are we doing? Launch Day in 24 hours!" And what a day that would be... He would get his answers out of the Doctor then, once the foolish Time Lord saw there was no hope left.

Behind him the Doctor mentally shook off the words he had heard his old friend say. Bad Wolf...not again. Surely it had just been a coincidence. Bad Wolf was gone, he had taken it out of Rose Tyler back at the Gamestation. There was no way it had anything to do with what was happening now.

No. He couldn't worry about it, he decided. He had more important things to worry about. And as he pushed Bad Wolf away and out of his mind and looked over to Francine Jones and pressed three fingers against his thigh.

He still had people to take care of here.

::

"At zero, to mark this day, the child, Martha Jones, will die," the Master proclaimed, grandstanding far more than the Doctor would ever be able to. It made Martha wonder if large egos were just traits of those two or Time Lord traits... Although when she thought about... They were called Time _Lords_... "Ha, my first blood. Any last words? No?" At the blank look he received he looked over to the Doctor.

"Such a disappointment, this one," the Master muttered, and he actually sounded disappointed as he spoke. "Days of old, Doctor, you had companions that could absorb the time vortex." He had been shocked when he had first seen that in the TARDIS files. What's more the girl who had done it had lived! This one though... "This one's useless!"

Taking out his sonic device he pointed it at Martha while an insane grin played upon his lips. "Bow your head." As she did so he grinned even more. "And so it falls to me, the Master of all, to establish from this day, a new order of Time Lords! From this day forward-" He cut himself off as he heard the girl's chuckles. "What? What's so funny?

"A gun?" As the girl went on to explain about the _gun_ that had been in four parts and scattered across the world he started to pale. Surely he was just jumping to conclusions. There was nothing they could do! He had them, had them all, right where he wanted!

"But with _fifteen _satellites!" As soon as the words were spoken he heard something in his head. Something else besides the never ending drumbeats. An eerie tune that made him think that his plan was unraveling and that maybe this hadn't been the best of ideas he had used.

The wolves were howling.

::

As the Doctor lit the Master's funeral pyre he couldn't stop the grief that filled him. He didn't let it show...he was done with the tears. But with this...with this he truly was the last of the Time Lords. As he walked away he heard the sound of wolves in the distance, although they didn't sound angry...they sounded so sad...as if they were crying for him.

A small smirk flickered on his lips just for a second as he remembered when he had been telling Rose of his home planet one day and she had started crying. He had initially panicked and asked what was wrong but the young human who he had become so enamored with had just said someone had to cry in his place.

As the wolves howled in sadness the Doctor felt a sense of calm fill him. He may have now been the last of the Time Lords but that didn't mean anything had to change. He would still travel on through space in time with his occasional companion. The Doctor in the TARDIS. Just as it should be.

Although why did that phrase sound so wrong...

* * *

Jesus...that last phrase kinda shattered my heart a little bit there... Well? Did it shatter yours? Yes. That is a desperate attempt to get more reviews, even if they're only one-word responses. Don't ask. It's all a part of my master plan! *cackles*


	5. The Prophet's Message

God I always loved this part of the episode. It was just brilliant. I mean...did you not feel the epic of that scene?! So we're getting closer to Stolen Earth/Journey's End, and we're REALLY close to Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead. River is almost here, as to how she fits into the story with Rose returning...well...

Spoilers.

* * *

"What's that, then, like the mayor?" As the Doctor smiled in a placating manner to the others in the room he internally tried to figure out how to get out of this one. This is why he hated dealing with new companions, always acting like the stupid apes they could be sometimes.

"Oh, ha. You must excuse my friend, she's from," the Doctor licked his lips, trying to come up with a lie that would be at least somewhat plausible, "Barcelona." There. That would work...hopefully... In a quieter voice he did his best to explain to Donna just what the City Augur was.

"No, but this is an age of superstition. Of _official_ superstition. The Augur," a nod in the direction of the man who was now inspecting the piece of marble intently, "is paid by the city to tell the future. The wind will blow from the west? That's the equivalent of ten o'clock news."

"They're laughing at us." As a new voice joined the room both the Doctor and Donna looked over to see a young girl, no older than sixteen, who was swaying on the spot and looked pale. "Those two, they use words like tricksters. They're mocking us." The Doctor glanced back at the others in the room while mentally wondering why something about this girl felt off.

"No, no, I'm not. I mean no offense." And really he hadn't. It's just that this regeneration tended to be a little...rude... And still not ginger. Nine regenerations at this point, you'd think at least _one_ of them would have been ginger! He had been so close one time...

"I'm sorry," Metalla, the wife, spoke as she moved to her daughter's side. "My daughter's been consuming the vapors." The Doctor followed her path with his eyes while wondering just what these vapors were, and if they were safe. By the looks of the girl in front of him he was beginning to think they weren't.

"Oh for gods, Mother. What have you been doing to her?" the boy, Quintus the Doctor thought he was called, spoke up. He had to admit...the boy had a point, glancing at Donna who was still standing beside him she had an expression that seemed to say she agreed with them.

"Not now, Quintus," Caecilius, the father, spoke up roughly, trying to get his son to drop the subject.

"Yeah, but she's sick. Just look at her!" he exclaimed while pointing towards his sister, who was swaying and trying to keep her balance with her mother's help. As the father and son talked the Doctor noted that the Augur's expression was as calculating as his was.

"I gather I have a rival in this household," Quintus finally spoke while slowly moving forward before standing behind the Doctor. "Another with the gift." As he spoke Caecilius shifted from foot-to-foot rather uncomfortably behind them. The Doctor couldn't blame him, stuck in a room full of rather unusual people as he was.

"Oh, she's been promised to the Sibylline Sisterhood," Metalla explained, sounding rather proud of her daughter. The Doctor couldn't stop the frown at that. Sibylline...now just why did that sound so familiar... "They say she has _remarkable_ visions."

"The prophecies of women are limited and dull. Only the menfolk have the capacity for true perception." Oh the Doctor didn't like the sound of that... This was one of the few times he was thankful Rose wasn't with him right now, she would probably be marching over and giving that man a patented Tyler slap.

"I'll tell you where the wind's blowing right now, mate," Donna spoke up, the Doctor feeling a smile twitch on his lips. At least it looked like Donna was living up to her reputation of being a ginger. Quick to anger and all of that. As a small tremor vibrated through the house a few of them looked around uncomfortably.

"The Mountain God marks your words. I'd be careful, if I were you," Lucius spoke, although the Doctor wasn't really paying attention. He was too busy staring at Evelina...something was just slightly off about both her and Lucius. But what exactly...

"Consuming the vapors, you say?"

"They give me strength," the young girl responded, her mother supporting her up even more. The Doctor's expression took on one of pity and worry. All he saw right now was a sick child in front of him.

"It doesn't look like it to me." As soon as the words were out of his mouth something in the air shifted. He had an idea of what it could be but...no...that was impossible. Not in this day in time...

"Is that your opinion as a doctor?" Evelina asked, her voice sounding as if she wasn't quite there in the room with them. The Doctor didn't even have time to feel properly shocked before he was talking again.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Doctor. That's your name." Ah...so that was what he was feeling. Psychic energy...but to be able to get his name from him... Something was very wrong. No human should have psychic energy that strong, not here at least.

"How did you know that?"

"And you," Evelina spoke, turning her gaze on Donna beside him, who was looking more and more skittish. Not that he could blame her. Humans always reacted badly to psychic happenings around them. "You call yourself Noble." As the girl talked the room seemed to grow darker, more red.

"Now then, Evelina," Metalla spoke up, sounding nervous at what was happening in front of her. "Don't be rude."

"No, no, no, no. Let her talk," the Doctor responded, mind racing impossibly fast. He was wondering just how much she could know...it also might help him determine how she was doing this.

"You both come from so far away..." Evelina continued, sounding dazed. Behind the Doctor Lucius spoke up.

"The female soothsayer is inclined to invent all sorts of vagaries."

"Oh, not this time, Lucius," the Doctor spoke, part of his mind still racing through possibilities of what could be going on. "I reckon you've been out-soothsayed."

"Is that so," Lucius asked before pausing and suddenly turning his head towards the Doctor, "Man from Gallifrey?" For just a small second the Doctor felt his hearts stop and his mind go blank. How had he known that...it was impossible... Gallifrey was gone, hidden in the past and only known about through the most ancient of legends. They weren't just seeing the future anymore...

"What?" the Doctor finally asked, voice cold. There was more going on here then he had first thought. Absently he noticed that both Metalla and Caecilius looked uncomfortable, and the Doctor couldn't blame them. They had been caught between the prophecies of two different seers.

"The strangest of images," Lucius spoke, sounding somewhat amused and fully confident. "Your home is lost in fire, is it not?" As the man spoke Donna shifted beside him.

"Doctor, what are they doing?" He wanted to reassure her but he couldn't actually find the words to say. This was starting to get just a bit beyond him.

"And you," Lucius spoke, turning his gaze on Donna, "Daughter of...London."

"How does he know that?" Donna asked, sounding close to panicking as she took a step back.

"This is the gift of Pompeii. Every single oracle tells the truth," Lucius proclaimed, sounding close to bragging. Donna just shook her head back and forth, trying to deny it. The Doctor supposed it _was_ a little too much for her accept all at once, especially since she didn't seem the type to believe in fortune-telling and the like to begin with.

"That's impossible." Deeming her as no longer important Lucius switched his gaze to the Doctor, who was getting a bad feeling about this.

"Doctor...the wolf is howling, and she is returning." At the words the Doctor felt his hearts go cold. The wolf...again with the wolf... And just who was returning?

"Who is? Who's she?" He couldn't mean...no. She was gone. Sealed off in another world, safe with her parents and best friend. There was no way she could ever come back...so who exactly was returning. And the wolf...why always the wolf?

"And you, daughter of London," Lucius spoke, turning his gaze back on Donna, who was now close to having a breakdown. "There is something on your back." As the Doctor turned around to look at her he saw the fear in her eyes.

"What's that mean?" Donna asked as she unconsciously tried to feel her back. The Doctor's eyes narrowed, what indeed. This wasn't a simple telling of the future they were doing. This was far beyond what any human should be capable of, let alone two in the same room!

"Even the word Doctor is false," Evelina spoke up finally while walking forward, the Doctor's eyes snapping over to her. "Your real name is hidden. It burns in the stars, in the Cascade of Medusa herself." No, no, no, no. They couldn't know this. Any of this. There was just no way. "You are a Lord, sir. A Lord of Time...

"And your Bad Wolf is looking for you..."

* * *

Not much change here...hopefully these chapters entertain you anyways. At least I can hope... And yes. I could see Rose giving the Tyler Slap to Lucius, I mean, couldn't you? XD


	6. Every Song Must End

Lets call this two-for-one day? Okay, no, this was such a short chapter I decided to throw it up anyways. So there, you get two chapters. Even if one is so tiny... I'M SORRY! THERE WAS ONLY SO MUCH I COULD DO WITH THIS ONE! I NEEDED that scene in here to make sense, but that was the only scene that I could use where it wouldn't just be putting transcripts into story form... *sighs* It's...complicated.

So...just... Well look at it this way? Guess which episode is up next... Thaaat's right~! Professor River Song - archaeologist. As to how her role will work out in this new re-write... Well...

Spoilers.

* * *

"The message has gone out," the Doctor explained, smile on his face. He liked days like this, where he could help those who so desperately needed it. "That song resonated across the galaxies. Everyone heard it. Everyone knows. The rockets are bringing them back." His voice turned gentle as Donna grinned widely from beside him. "The Ood are coming home."

"We thank you, Doctor and Donna," Sigma spoke while holding up his translator. "Friends of Oodkind. And what of you now? Will you stay? There is room in the song for you."

"Oh, I've, I've sort of got a song of my own, thanks," the Doctor explained while titling his head towards the TARIDS. His wonderful TARDIS. Beside him Donna seemed to try and stifle a smile at his slight babble.

"I think your song must end soon," Sigma spoke as the Doctor's smile slowly faded. His song must end? Well...that sounded rather...dark.

"Meaning?" the Doctor asked, mind racing through possibilities.

"Every song must end, Doctor" Sigma spoke before continuing. "And every flower must bloom. Your wolf will soon return to your side." At this the Doctor paled, trying not to show Donna just how much those words burned him. The human by his side glanced over at him and seemed to see something anyways since her expression grew slightly confused.

"Yeah...yeah..." He would put it out of his mind for now. It was best not to dwell on one's own future too much... "Er, what about you?" he asked quietly while turning around towards Donna, who was bundled up in her thick coat still. Donna looked at him a second before shaking off her confusion and smiling softly. "You still want to go home?"

"No. Definitely not," she replied while shaking her head, the Doctor's own smile widening in response.

"Then we'll be off," the Doctor turned back towards Sigma as the Ood and the others raised their hands in unison, the human and Time Lord looking on with a smile.

"Take this song with you," Sigma seemed to smile as he spoke through his translator, the Ood's song of freedom resonating throughout their minds. The two grinned before Donna spoke up.

"We will." The Doctor noticed she was smiling easier now that the memories of the caged Ood were slowly fading and beginning to be replaced by these happy and free Ood.

"Always."

"And know this, Doctor and Donna," Sigma began, "You will never be forgotten. Our children will sing of the Doctor and of Donna, and our children's children, and the wind and the ice and the snow will carry your names forever." As the Ood finished the two smiled softly before going back into the TARDIS.

Onwards to yet another adventure.

* * *

I swear I'm sorry. I channeled my sappy/mushy side on that last line. Next chapter should be up in a few days...gonna take a while cause I'm not just re-writing scenes any more. I'm basically re-doing a whole episode... *sighs*


	7. Spoilers

Ha ha! A bit more of a longer chapter than most, don't you think?! About 4 1/2 pages, size 10 font of course. So this should keep you busy for a little while. Took me a while because I was trying to figure out the plot for season 6 and so. And I have one thing to say.

Damn you Moffat. Just...damn you.

So here you go! Here's Professor River Song.

* * *

"_Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached. Others are coming. Reminder. The library has been breached..._"

As the words repeated themselves through the node behind them the Doctor and Donna started to feel more and more on edge. Hearing the same thing over and over again tended to do that to people. The Doctor still remembered when he and Rose had started putting the Bad Wolf puzzle together.

His thoughts were interrupted as bright flash of light blew a door open from behind them, causing them to jump back out of shock, and slight fear in Donna's case. Staring at them sternly the Doctor watched as six figures entered through the doors, all of them wearing spacesuits. As the leader of the group approached him the Doctor had a feeling today was going to be one of _those _days.

"Hello Sweetie."

Yes. Definitely one of _those _days, he thought as the filter on the head of the spacesuit pulled back to reveal a grinning woman who looked somewhere in her mid-30s, although really he couldn't be sure what with this age's cosmetic industry being what it was.

"Get out." Donna quietly said his name, probably a reminder for him not to be so rude, not that he really listened. Besides, she had been so quiet it was hard to tell _what_ she had been saying. Really it could have been a cough! "All of you! Turn around, get back in your rocket, and fly away!" He pointed towards the door and generally looked like a ball of energy ready to snap. "Tell your grandchildren you cam to the Library and lived. They won't believe you."

"Pop your helmets, everyone," the leader of the group called, not even bothering to pay attention to the man who had just been ranting and yelling for them to leave. "We've got breathers." The Doctor watched as the group took their helmets off, he was feeling more and more weary about today.

"How do you know they're not androids?" one of the group, a woman, called out from behind him. The Doctor turned his head and looked her up and down for a second. Hm...she was rather smart. Not trusting what she saw immediately and instead questioned what was around her.

"Because I've dated androids," the leader called, the Doctor noticing that she had blonde, curly hair and a rather flirtatious look on her face. "They're rubbish." Oh yes...she would do well to meet Captain Jack. In fact...it was the 51st century... The Doctor wouldn't be surprised if she was somehow related to the man.

"Who is this?" one of the men asked, walking up to the curly-haired woman. As everyone in the room surrounded him the Doctor knew this wasn't going to be as easy as just getting in the TARDIS and leaving, when was it ever? "You said we were the only expedition. I paid for exclusives!"

Expedition...oh no...

"I lied, I'm always lying." Well, that would explain why the Doctor was on edge right now. She reminded him too much of himself at the moment "Bound to be others." The man frowned heavily before backing up a bit and pointing to a rather pretty woman beside him, one who didn't look older than her mid-20s.

"Miss Evangelista," he called, annoyance still coating his voice, "I want to see the contracts." The blonde didn't seem to care what he was doing since she just turned her attention back to the Doctor, who was starting to get just a little confused.

"You came through the north door, yeah? How was that, much damage?" the woman asked, sounding as if this was just another day for her. The Doctor frowned before putting his hands on his hips, feeling much like one of his previous regenerations, although he couldn't bother to remember which one right now.

"Please just leave. I'm asking you seriously and properly, just leave- Hang on. Did you say expedition?" And then it finally hit him as the expression of disgust and weariness took over his face. Oh this day was not going to pleasant at all.

"_My_ expedition," the man who seemed to be _actually_ in charge spoke, "I funded it."

"Oh you're not, are you?" Even his expression showed how much reluctance he had being here. Donna was actually impressed by how dramatic he was being, since this was more than usual. "Tell me you're not archaeologists..."

"Got a problem with archaeologists?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow and sounding like she already knew the answer. Actually...she was sounding like she already knew _him_, and people who sounded like that usually ended up causing all sorts of trouble.

"I'm a time traveler. I point and _laugh_ at archaeologists." And really he did. Honestly...going to museums was more of a way to cheer himself up when he was depressed. He remembered last time he took Rose to one she had been cracking up all day, although really he couldn't tell if it was at the exhibits or if it was at him going crazy about all they had got wrong.

Probably the exhibits.

"Ah. Professor River Song," the woman, River, grinned while holding out her hand. "Archaeologist." Oh she was so like Jack. She could be his older sister and he wouldn't be the least bit surprised. Shaking her hand out of habit he then quickly maneuvered her back towards her group and the door.

"River Song, lovely name. As you're leaving, and you're leaving now, you need to set up a quarantine beacon. Code wall the planet, the whole planet!" As he explained, quickly, he noticed one of the woman walking towards the shadows, the one who had questioned if they were androids. "Nobody comes here, not ever again. Not one living thing! Not here, not ever. Stop right there!" As he pulled the girl back he quickly asked, "What's your name?"

"Anita." Oh and she sounded mad, well, that was normal with him. Him being rude...and still not ginger...

"Anita, stay out of the shadows. Not a foot, not a _finger _in the shadows till you're safely back in your ship," And he did try to be a bit nicer this time as he explained. A bit. "Goes for _all _of you! Stay in the light! Find a nice bright spot and just stand. If you understand me look very, very scared."

As his eyes darted around the room he saw a few looked confused, Anita looked like he was crazy, and River just raised an eyebrow at him like she was amused. The amused expression was what annoyed him the most. Did he really have a face that just no one listened to anymore?! He blamed Rose.

"No, bit more scared than that." Well...at least the younger woman looked somewhat scared, although of him or the shadows he wasn't sure. "Okay, do for now. You!" He pointed at the man who was still standing by the door as he strolled towards it, "Who are you?"

"Er, Dave."

"Okay, Dave!"

"Oh, well, Other Dave. Because that's Proper Dave," a gesture to the only person in the room who had yet to talk, "the pilot. He was the first Dave, so when we-" Oh...he sensed another Mickey the Idiot... Well...maybe this one had hope too...

"Other Dave," he interrupted as he put his hand on the man's back and steered him out the door, "The way you came, does it look the same as before?"

"Yeah. Oh!" And here comes another bad feeling... "It's a bit darker." Yeah...bad day today. Oh why did he have to follow that stupid message on his psychic paper. He should have just ignored it and taken Donna to that Chinatown planet like he had planned.

"How much darker?"

"Oh, like I could see where we came through just like a moment ago," a vague gesture with the device he was holding in his hands, "I can't now."

"Seal up this door. We'll find another way out," the Doctor ordered, walking back over to the center of the room they were in. A rotunda it looked like.

"Would you-" Yep, definitely another Mickey. Oh and this time Rose wasn't even here to tell him not to be rude, how unfair was that? Messing with people like that was only fun when Rose would butt in and tell him to shut it.

"We're not looking for a way out!" the man, the one who had paid for the expedition, spoke up, staring after him coldly. "Miss Evangelista?" He held out a clipboard and gave it to the young woman before motioning towards the Doctor, who was going back to stand by Donna.

"I'm Mister Lux's personal...everything. You need to sign these contracts," the two then glanced down at the blue pieces of paper on the clipboard, "agreeing that your individual experience inside the library are the intellectual property of the Felman Lux Corporation." It had sounded like she was remembering something from a card, which wouldn't be far off since the the girl's boss, Lux, was mouthing the words with her near the end.

"Right, give it here," the Doctor half-smiled, accepting the piece of paper at the same time as Donna reached for one.

"Yeah, lovely. Thanks." It was then the two ripped up the contracts in their hands with similar expressions of nonchalance before tossing the pieces away, the Doctor more dramatically than Donna.

"My family built this library," Lux explained rather darkly, walking up to the two and gesturing with his flashlight, "I have _rights_." The Doctor was about to tell him to shut it but he was beat to the point, which was something that set him on edge even more than before.

"You have a mouth that won't stop," River butted in rudely, sounding as annoyed with the man as the Doctor was. Lux glared back at her coldly but she just ignored him and turned her expression on the Doctor, like he was in charge of this whole thing. "You think there's danger here?" The Doctor knew he should be happy she was finally listening but that look on her face, the trust in her eyes, just made him uncomfortable.

"Something came to this library and _killed _everything in it. Killed a whole world. Danger?" he asked rhetorically while tilting his head to the side, "Could be." River's flat expression amused him more than anything else. Why were humans so narrow-minded...

"That was a hundred years ago. The Library's been silent for a hundred years," River explained, conviction in her voice. "Whatever came here's long dead!"

"Bet your life?" the Doctor asked, expecting her to finally realize the danger she was in. Instead the woman just grinned while giving him a look that said this wasn't her first time facing danger like this, probably wouldn't be her last either. Not if she could help it.

"Always." The Doctor's expression grew slightly amused as his eyes flickered over her a bit before turning back around. Humans may be narrow-minded...but there was something about this one that was rather interesting. At the sound of something being nailed up he turned towards the door the group had entered from.

"What are you doing?" Lux exclaimed, standing in front of Other Dave as the Doctor walked towards the two. Other Dave looked between the two before gesturing back towards the door, River still grinning from her spot in the middle of the room.

"He said seal the door." Like it was a simple thing. And this was one of the reasons he liked humans so much, they knew when to shut up and listen.

"You're taking orders from him?!" Well...some of them did.

"Spooky, isn't it?" the Doctor snarked, taking the flashlight from the man's outreached hand and walking back towards the edge of the room. Lux looked from his empty hand to him for a few seconds before looking slightly confused, wondering how this had all turned around on him.

As the Doctor shined the light into the edges of the room, where thick shadows laid, Donna came to stand beside him. She could feel the tension that could be seen, coiled in his shoulders.

"Almost every species in the universe has an irrational fear of the dark," the Doctor explained, still staring out at the shadows. "But they're wrong, because it's not irrational. It's Vashta Nerada." He said it like he expected the group to be killed right there and then.

"What Vashta Nerada?" Donna asked, sounding worried at the tone in his voice.

"It's what's in the dark. It's what's always in the dark." He was silent for a few seconds before turning back to the group, tossing the light back into Lux's hands. "Lights! That's what we need, lights! You got lights?"

"What for?" River asked, the Doctor walking back towards them with purpose.

"Form a circle," he explained. "Safe area. Big as you can, lights pointing out." Quickly slipping his coat off he threw it to rest on one of the shelving carts before hearing River take charge behind him.

"Oi! Do as he says!" As a flurry of movement erupted from behind him he crouched to the floor, looking at the shadows from his new angle.

"You're not listening to this man?!" Lux half-asked, sounding shocked at what was now going on. To be fair not many were ever ready to meet the Doctor.

"Apparently I am," River responded, the Doctor half-listening. Not many were prepared...but apparently she was. "Anita, unpack the lights. Other Dave, make sure the door's secure, then help Anita. Mister Lux, put your helmet back on, block the visor. Proper Dave, find an active terminal. I want you to access the library database." Donna stared in shock. She was like the Doctor right now, giving orders with no hesitation. "See what you can find about what happened here a hundred years ago. Pretty boy, you're with me," River finally winded down from her orders, picking up her helmet and bag as she did so, "Step into my office."

"Professor Song," Lux called out, "Why am I the only one wearing my helmet?"

"I don't fancy you," River grinned as the Doctor got up and walked over to Proper Dave at the terminal as Lux aggravatingly took off his helmet.

"Probably I can help you," the Doctor explained, slipping his glasses on before leaning one hand against the terminal, Proper Dave staring at him for a second before going back to the screen.

"Pretty boy! With me, I said," River called, the Doctor looking behind him before he saw Donna's expression, which was a mix of amusement and the look she gave him when he was being stupid.

"Oh, I'm pretty boy?" the Doctor asked, pointing to himself while Donna rolled her eyes.

"Yes! Oo..." she muttered, "That came out a bit quick." The Doctor was more paying attention to the part that he had just been called 'pretty'.

"Pretty?"

"Meh," Donna said, tilting her head to the side. The Doctor made a similar noise and expression before walking over towards River.

"Don't let your shadows cross!" he ordered at the group, "Seriously, don't even let them touch. Any of them could be infected." As the others chatted behind him he walked over to River, who was now taking out a battered blue book from her backpack. It actually...looked familiar. It had eight squares on the cover. It looked...but no. That was impossible.

He lightly coughed to get her attention before she suddenly looked up and smiled, opening the book as she did so. "Thanks," she grinned, looking like a little girl who had just been visited by a family member who she didn't get to see that often. And that expression freaked him out more than anything.

"For what?" he hesitantly asked, wondering if he should. At the rate things were going he wasn't sure if he really wanted to know what she was talking about.

"The usual. For coming when I call." Oh! So that's who had given him the message...on psychic paper...in the middle of the Vortex... "Usually you're much quicker though, although I suppose you got tied up with something else." Here she gave him a look that made him fidget. It was like she knew something that not even he knew yet.

"So that was you who sent the message?" he asked, just to confirm, and to get away from a subject that she seemed to know more about than him.

"You're doing a very good job of acting like you don't know me... I'm assuming there's a reason." Well...since he had never actually seen this woman in his life, any of them...

"A fairly good one, actually," he shifted uncomfortably again, glasses slightly moving down his face as he did so.

"Okay, diary time," she grinned while flipping through a few more pages in her book and then looking back up at his face and squinting a bit. "Judging from your face I'd say it's rather early days for you, yeah?" She half-asked, going to a section near the middle of the book. She then looked between him and Donna and then back around the room for a few seconds.

"Okay...I give up..." At this he raised his eyebrows at her. Give up on what? "Where's Rose? I'm assuming something must have happened if she's not by your side. Is she okay?" He barely even noticed the worried tone in River's voice, head too busy going over what she had just said to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. She...had asked about Rose.

River looked at his blank look before sighing. "Well, I just hope it's not too bad, although knowing her not even a sickness will keep her away from you. Honestly you two act like _teenagers _half the time you're together! And teenagers at the start of their relationship at that. Can't let each other out your sight for more than a few minutes or one of you's going crazy.

"Well, guess we'll just have to do diaries without her for now...oh, she's going to be angry she missed this one. Let's see..." River flipped a page, still not noticing the Doctor's cold look at her. "Crash of the Byzantium?" she asked, looking up only to see his blank stare, although it looked rather cold. Shaking it off she flipped forward a page.

"Okay, so obviously ringing no bells. Right. Oh! Picnic at Asgard...Rose just _loved_ it there... Have we done- Doctor...what's wrong?" River asked, finally noticing the cold and dead look in the man's eyes. "Doctor... Where's Rose?" she asked, voice growing hard and serious.

River immediately grew weary as the look in the man's eyes grew even colder. The Doctor only looked like this when Rose was in trouble or hurt... Problem was...she had _never _seen him this bad off before...could Rose be... No. There was no way Rose could die.

"How do you know about Rose?" Well...she hadn't been expecting that question, especially not the sharp bite in his voice, like she was something evil. River blinked in confusion before a small smile showed on her face.

"Well of course I know about Rose... You can't see her without you nearby, and vice versa I might add. You two are practically glued at the hip when it comes to one another!" She trailed off as she looked into his eyes again. No...she couldn't have come that far back... "Doctor... Where's. Rose."

"Rose is gone," the Doctor stated, coldly. "She's safe, and happy, with her family." And damn if those words didn't kill him and tear his hearts to pieces. He glared down at River for a few seconds before noticing the woman's confused expression and raised eyebrow.

"Doctor...what are you talking about? Safe with her family? Her-" River suddenly cut herself off, a fearful look coming into her eyes. It was then the Doctor had to wonder how she knew his name when he hadn't even said it yet. "Unless... Doctor... _Please _tell me you know who I am."

"Who are you?"

As a phone starts ringing and echoing around the room, everyone looking confused, River does her best to hide her hurt away as the Doctor's head jerks up and he walks over to the computer terminal. She knew this day would happen, one day, it had always been coming. But...

She just hadn't expected for it to hurt _so _much.

* * *

*cackles* This is fun, although I had some issues with how I wanted River to interact with him at first. Settled on flirty daughter who lives off one-night stand relationships. Kinda like Jack. Actually...in this version I wouldn't be surprised if she learned all she knows from Jack. XD

Next chapter will be up soon-ish. For now I am going to sleep...because I feel...floaty.

Oh yeah! The title is one I made, for those who may not know the circle background is actually Gallifreyan (holy crap that's an actual word...) writing. Let's see who can guess what the word/phrase/sentence is first! And yeah, I'm not making it easy on you. Could be one word...or two...or three or more. Let's see if you know.


	8. Rewritten Times

An actual CHAPTER and not just a drabble...we're getting there guys! So, this is the next part to River's little saga. *rubs eyes* It's 3:30am here so I'm half asleep. Basically if you see any typos...just...ignore them, okay? Just pretend they're not there. Please. I'm dying.

Now. I'm going to go read my Doctor Who fanfiction. Complicated just got updated, and this chapter is either gonna make me hate or love them. XD Edit : Just read the chapter. Mind still reeling. Damn them for their cliffhangers... Oh yeah! Wanted to say that someone got the cover image word right!

Props to JanJan L-chan, who can read and write circle Gallifreyan an guess the words! They were Bad Wolf. Really you all had to see that coming. XD So...

Enjoy!

* * *

"What happened? Who was that?" River asked, leaning over to try and get a better look at the terminal that had just shown a video link with a little girl a few seconds ago. She tried to push away the fact that her voice sounded weary and cold...the fact that the Doctor didn't even notice was also annoying her. She wasn't sure if she was thankful he was too busy trying to get back into the terminal or if she should hate his short attention span.

She really wished Rose was here...

"I need another terminal," the Doctor spoke quickly, grin in his voice at having yet another mystery to solve. "Keep working on those lights. We need those lights!" he yelled back as he jumped over a desk and spun towards the terminal, a ball of manic energy that River couldn't help but smile at.

"You heard him, people! Let there be light!" River yelled, pushing the team to get moving. She had people to worry about and monsters to beat, she couldn't be concerned with her feelings. Much more important things to worry about than her world coming to an end, like this one for starters.

Seeing everyone getting the lights hooked up into place River glanced back to see that the Doctor was quickly typing into the computer terminal, although he was now looking at her diary. The woman sighed, realizing she would have to go over and take it out of his hands. Honestly...he was like a child with candy.

"Sorry, you're not allowed to see inside the book," River spoke, trying for a light tone as she gently took the book out of his hand. He looked over at her for a second, calculating look in his eyes. Oh she hated that look. "It's against the rules after all."

"What rules?" At the question River's eyes automatically hardened and she had to fight the urge to raise her hackles and do something stupid. Like slap him. Never mind the fact that Rose always thought it was funny as hell...it wouldn't do to slap him when he knew nothing about her. Yet. And God didn't that thought just rip her apart.

"Rose's rules. And yours...once she got you to agree," River slightly smiled, remembering that day. Rose had practically screamed at him that he couldn't be looking into his own future, did he want to destroy all of time and space? Needless to say she had been amused for the rest of the day.

Looking up at the Doctor's face he saw his eyes were harsh and cold. It was the first time in a very long time that she actually felt afraid of the man who had become so important to her over the years. It also hurt like hell. "It was usually her job to slap your hand away when you tried to read the book..."

Before the Doctor can snap at her and ask what exactly she's trying to accomplish, making up stories of Rose, he's distracted by the sudden movement of a book. Falling off a shelf...well...more like flying. Quirking an eyebrow at the shelf he watched as even more books started flying.

He really wished Rose was here because he could think of four puns right off the top of his head.

"What's that? I didn't do that," the Doctor muttered, quickly checking his terminal just to be sure. When he saw he actually hadn't he looked over towards Proper Dave who was on the other terminal. "Did you do that?" Book didn't just fly off the shelf for no reason, especially when they were in a dead library.

As River slowly walked back towards the center of the room, wondering what was going on and thankful for the chance to get away from the tense conversation, the Doctor looked back to his terminal, quickly trying to figure out what was going on.

"Not me," Dave called out, also searching through the files. The Doctor frowned before seeing something flash across his screen. Cal Access Denied. Well...that was...odd...

"What's Cal?" the Doctor mostly asked himself as he looked around the room in amused disbelief. Books were flying off the shelves and he had no clue how, and that was actually kind of refreshing. The fact that River was hauling cords around, acting as if all of this was normal, was also slightly amusing.

As more books started flying, and faster, River finally spoke up. "What's causing that? Is it the little girl?" The Doctor half-noticed that her voice sounded a little shaken but at this point he wasn't quite sure what was the cause of it. She was still too much of a mystery which didn't quite settle well with him.

He hated not knowing what someone was going to do.

"But who is the little girl?" he mused, trying to focus on the mystery itself as the books finally stopped flying, for how long he didn't know. "What's she got to do with this place?" As he talked he adjusted his position on the desk he was now sitting on, one leg crossed under him and the other he leaned on. He was trying to piece together this puzzle but also wondering if Rose would be shoving him off the desk or sitting up there beside him. "How does the data core work? What's the principle? What's Cal?"

"Ask Mister Lux," River answered, voice still rather cold. Deciding not to touch upon that, he'd had enough slaps to last a lifetime, he turned his head towards Lux. He was annoyed to see that the man looked a little self-satisfied, knowing the answers when no one else did. Oh he was going to clash with this one.

"Cal, what is it?"

"Sorry, you didn't sign your personal experience contracts," Lux said lightly, a small smirk playing on his lips. Oh yes, he was _definitely _going to clash with this one.

"Mister Lux," the Doctor started, jumping off the desk and walking towards the man in a relaxed stride, hands in his pockets. "Right now, you're in more danger than you've ever been in your whole life. And you're protecting a _patent_?"

"I'm protecting my family's pride," Lux stated firmly. A small corner of the Doctor's mind wondered at that, it sounded like there was something he was hiding... If he didn't have the lives of everyone in this room to worry about he would probably wonder about that more.

"Well, funny thing, Mister Lux. I don't want to see everyone in this room _dead_ because some idiot thinks his pride is more important." As soon as the words were out of his mouth the could hear a little corner of his treacherous brain, the part that sounded like Rose, mutter something about the pot calling the kettle black. He decided to ignore it.

"Then why don't you sign his contract?" River asked, arms crossed as she slightly smirked. The Doctor shot a glare at her before she softly snorted. "Oh don't look like that, I didn't sign it either... Goodness, I'm getting as bad as you. Oh...Rose would be angry at us both right about now..."

The Doctor looked between her and Lux for a few seconds, mind turning at yet another mention of Rose, before walking away and looking uncomfortable, hands coming out of his pockets as he started using gestures to get his point across. He would just ignore River for now, and her strange comments.

Why did blondes always have to give him so much trouble...

"Okay, okay, okay," the Doctor started, half to clear his head and half to clear the previous conversation, "Let's start at the beginning. What happened here? On the actual day, a hundred years ago, what _physically_ happened?" As soon as he finished his questions he looked over at the team, a small part of him noticing that he was now standing beside Donna. That same part noticed that she had been rather quiet so far...that couldn't be good...

"There was a message from the Library. Just one. The lights are going out," River explained, voice rather grim. "Then the computer sealed the planet and there was nothing for a hundred years."

"It's taken three generations of my family just to decode the seals and get back in," Lux broke in, sounding cross that it had taken that long. Absently the Doctor was impressed that the Library had that great a seal on it, well...either that or the Lux family was _very_ stupid.

As his mind turned over the possibilities he absently noticed Lux and that girl, Miss Evangelista, talking. He then tuned them out, trying to figure out just what he was missing. Something...there was something going on here that he hadn't yet understood.

"There was one other thing in the last message," River spoke up, reaching down to open her bag as she did so. Beside her Lux bristled and glared down at her as she pulled out a communication device.

"That's confidential," the man said, sounding as if he wanted to kick the Doctor off the planet. That part didn't really surprise him, he had been kicked off a lot of planets. The part that surprised him was what River said next.

"I trust this man with my life, my everything." And damn if that didn't scare him more than a Dalek. Being trusted absolutely like that...he didn't deserve the trust of others... He never did.

"You've only just met him," Lux snarked, and the Doctor very much wanted to say the same. Who could trust someone they've only just met? Well...besides Rose...but his pink and yellow human had never been exactly normal to begin with, even before she had absorbed the time vortex.

"Nope, he's only just met me," River responded, trying to sound like she didn't mind that fact even as a look of comprehension overtook the Doctor's features. So she was from his personal future...that would explain why she knew him. Although...she didn't act as if she was a future companion...and if she knew him in the future it didn't explain why she kept talking as if Rose was still there, with him.

"This is a data extract that came with the message," River explained while handing him the device, the Doctor looking at it intently. Well...that was helpful...

"Four thousand and twenty two saved. No survivors."

"Four thousand and twenty two. That's the exact number of people who were in the library when the planet was sealed," River explained while her lips twitched upward. It seemed she loved a mystery as much as he did, which made him feel even more uncomfortable around her.

"But how can four thousand and twenty two people have been saved if there were no survivors?" Donna finally spoke up, sounding confused while she looked down at the device in their hands.

"That's what we're here to find out," River said, taking the device back and walking over to her bag as Lux rolled his eyes.

"And so far, what we haven't found are any bodies." The Doctor snorted at that. Looked like he found another cheery sort. Saved, saved, saved...something...at the back of his mind... He'd probably have been able to figure it out by now if he wasn't so worried about the mystery that was River Song...

Just who was this woman that claimed to know him in the future...

::

The Doctor strided back into the room, looking like an animal close to lashing out. Death followed him everywhere, but that didn't mean he couldn't fight back when given the chance, and he'd be damned before he let anyone else die.

"I'm going to need a packed lunch," the Doctor muttered while he pulled his sonic screwdriver out. It was time to find himself a living shadow.

"Hang on," River replied while kneeling down and rifling through her bag, pulling the TARDIS blue book out as she did so. Even though his brain was racing on what to do next the Doctor still found his attention drawn back to the little blue book in thought.

"What's in that book?" he asked, kneeling down beside her, sounding urgent. If he wanted to concentrate on how to get them all out of there, _alive_, he needed to know all the variables. And that included figuring out what exactly River was... No...even as he thought it that little part of his mind told him it was an excuse. What he really wanted was to find out why River talked like Rose was still with him.

When she was from his _future_.

"Spoilers," River replied tensely, looking and sounding like a wolf with raised hackles. The Doctor frowned at the tone of voice he had heard. That word sounded like something she had been saying for far too long...it has sounded like she had kept things _hidden_ for far too long.

"Who are you?"

"Professor River Song," the woman quickly replied, "University of-" The Doctor quickly cut her off. She knew that wasn't what he meant.

"To me. Who are you to me? How do you even know about Rose?!" The Doctor asked, getting more and more tense. "If you really are from my future then you should know..." here he trailed off, hearts clenching in pain. "There's no way she can ever come back. It's impossible."

"Didn't think you were one for believing in the impossible," River spoke softly, a small, sad smile on her lips. "After all, there are quite a few things in your life that you claimed were impossible. Watching a young _human_ absorb the time vortex from the TARDIS itself," at that the Doctor twitched, as if he had been poked in the side rather hard. "Finding out the Daleks were still alive...

"Falling in love with a young human girl."

Donna's eyes narrowed as she watched the Doctor flinch from where she was standing. It had looked like the man had just been slapped. As the woman watched the two talk thoughts whirled around her head and yet the only thing she could really think was where the hell did that woman get off bringing Rose up? Especially when it was such a sore subject for the man she had come to see as family.

"Who are you..." the Doctor quietly asked, hurt still showing on his face. He looked as if he didn't expect an answer but still thought he should ask. River looked at him for a few seconds longer before smiling softly and looking close to hugging him.

"Spoilers..." River hardly voiced before shaking her head, "Right. Chicken and a bit of salad. Knock yourself out," River grinned while reaching the man her packed lunch, the Doctor staring at her quietly before taking it and acting as if nothing had just happened.

"Right, you lot! Let's all meet the Vashta Nerada." As the man spoke Donna's eyes just narrowed at the two even more as she crossed her arms. The Doctor was like a little brother to her and if that woman kept hurting him like this then Donna was going to have some words with this _Professor River Song_.

::

River and Donna were both watching the Doctor, who was kneeling on the floor and scanning on and off with his sonic screwdriver, the humming sound starting to put the women on edge. River glanced over at Donna quickly before taking a deep breath, braced for what she was about to ask.

"You travel with him, don't you?" River asked, Donna looking over at her with a raised eyebrow. "The Doctor, you travel with him."

"What of it?" Donna asked back, still uneasy around this woman. There was something about her that screamed she was hiding something. As the two watched the Doctor scoot Proper Dave out of the way Donna looked back over at River. "You know him, don't you?"

"What do you know about Rose Tyler?" River asked softly, soft enough to where not even the Doctor could here her from where he was. Donna furrowed her brow at the question before taking time to think about it. Really there wasn't much she could say about Rose Tyler.

"Not much really. All I know is that the Doctor said something about losing her, right before I first met him," Donna said softly, thinking back to when she had first appeared on the TARDIS in her wedding dress. The first thing she had noticed, besides the fact she was now no longer walking down the aisle, was the sad, sad man standing in front of her.

"I know the Doctor," River spoke quietly, smiling softly as she looked at Donna. Even though she was looking at her Donna could tell that her mind was far, far away. In another time. "Both him and Rose... God do I know those two... We go so far back, the three of us... Just not this far."

"I'm sorry, what?" Donna asked, wondering if this woman was ever going to make sense. She talked like she knew the Doctor and yet she also talked as if she barely knew who the man in front of them was. It was enough to give her a headache.

"He hasn't met me yet," River bit out, sounding as if the words had cut her, "I sent those two a message but it went wrong somehow. The message arrived too far back...far too back... This is the Doctor in the days before he knew me...back before he had his Rose with him..." she muttered the last part softly, as if admitting it made her want to cry.

"What are you talking about? Are you just talking rubbish? Do you know him or don't you?" Donna snapped, feeling herself go into overprotective sibling mode. She may have been younger than the Doctor but the man acted like a child half the time so she felt justified in seeing herself as the older one. All she knew was that this woman was somehow causing the Doctor pain and she _did not_ like it. At all.

"Donna!" the Doctor snapped back over his shoulder, "Quiet, I'm working."

"Sorry," Donna called over, scowling and glaring at the man's back. Really instead of apologizing she wanted to ring the man's neck. Stupid little Time Lord brother.

"Donna," River said, sounding stunned, "You're Donna. Donna Noble." River was astounded. She was talking to Donna, the woman who the Doctor and Rose mentioned to her in stories. The most important woman in the universe.

"Yeah. Why?" Donna asked, sounding as if she didn't really care either way. River took a breath before looking over at her, deciding to explain as much as she could to the woman who her family had loved so, so much.

"I do know the Doctor," River explained, "But in the future. _His_ personal future." Donna nodded slowly, she supposed it would make sense why River knew him but he didn't know her if she was from _his_ future. Blimey...time travel was too confusing by half.

"So why don't you know me?" Donna asked, wondering why River had sounded so shocked at learning her name. "Where am I in the future?"

"Okay, got a live one!" the Doctor called out, River sighing in relief as Donna went to go kneel beside him. "That's not darkness down those tunnels. This is not a shadow. It's a swarm. A man eating swarm." As River shined her light in the dark in front of them she couldn't help but be a bit grateful for the Doctor's rubbish timing.

As they watched the chicken bone hit the floor, the flesh stripped bare in less than a second, the whole room stared in mute horror at the spot. The echoing noise of bone hitting floor seemed to sink into them as they realized just what they were up against.

::

"What do we do? Where do we go?!" Lux asked, sounding panicked. The Doctor rolled his eyes from in front of him. Sure they were rather stuck at the moment and about to die, but that didn't call for panic. That was the worst thing they could do right now.

"See that wall behind you?" River asked, nodding to the wall as she pulled out a small gun that had been strapped to her side. A small smile played on her lips as she aimed it at the wall she had pointed out, "Duck."

"Squareness gun!" the Doctor shouted, astounded. He hadn't seen one of those, well, since Jack. River shot him a grin while pulling the gun up and looking at the neat, square whole in front of them.

"Got it from an old friend of mine," River spoke up, "A rather handsome captain that is _quite_ the flirt. Not to mention quite the conman. Even stole my Chula warship from me!" River rolled her eyes, as if she still couldn't quite believe that one. "Now everybody out! Go, go, go. Move it!"

As River herded the group out through the whole behind her the Doctor seemed to pale. This woman knew both Rose and Jack, two people who he almost never talked about if he could help it, and yet he didn't know anything at all about her...

::

The group was leaning against the stacks of books, trying to catch their breath after how far they had just run. A little ways away the Doctor had one foot balancing on a step ladder and another braced against a bookshelf as he used his sonic on a light fitting that was glowing dimly.

"Trying to boost the power," he explained. "Light doesn't stop them, but it slows them down." River walked up to him while lowering her voice, trying not to let the others hear, which the Doctor had to admit was rather smart of her.

"So, what's the plan? Do we have a plan?" she asked, all while turning her own sonic on and boosting the light the Doctor had been working on. The light quickly sparked until it came on and glowed brightly.

"Your screwdriver," the Doctor murmured slowly while gently letting go of the light before staring at it. He then carefully looked down at River. "Looks exactly like mine."

"Yeah. It was a gift from you, well, you and Rose..." River trailed off, twirling the sonic before looking as if she was trying to recall something. "Actually...it had been one of Rose's temporary ones when her old one had gotten broken, think she blamed you for that, and oh had she gotten mad... What was it again..."

"Rose never had a sonic," the Doctor muttered flatly, stepping off the ladder as he did so. River looked over at him to see his eyes had gone cold again. She repressed the urge to sigh as he started talking again. "Even if she did we never would have given a screwdriver to anyone.

"I'm not anyone," River grinned. Most of it was fake but a little bit was real. She did so love being enigmatic. Rose had called it karma for all the times the Doctor had been like that over the years.

"Who are you?" the Doctor asked. River had to hold back a snort since he sounded like he actually expected an answer from her. Silly Time Lord, she thought he would have learned by now.

"What's the plan?" she asked, grinning as she tucked her screwdriver away. The Doctor stared at her coldly for a few more moments before deciding to drop it and switch subjects.

"I teleported Donna back to the TARDIS. If we don't get back there in under five hours Emergency Program One will activate," he explained, holding up his own screwdriver so he could look at something.

"Take her home, yeah, I know. Oh...Rose _hated_ when you used that on her. She also said, well, will say, that if you ever use that on her again she'll personally find her way back, again, and make you regenerate herself with nothing but a slap," River grinned, the Doctor flinching at the thought of a Tyler slap. He then stared down at River for a few seconds before deciding to just ignore her, and her comments about Rose.

"We need to get a shift on!" River said, slightly louder, as glanced back at the others and silently commanded them to stand up. It was time for them to get out of here. As she did so the Doctor stared down at his screwdriver in confusion. Well...that couldn't be right.

"She's not there..." the Doctor said slowly. "Donna. She's not there. I should have received a signal by now. The console signals me if there's a teleport breach." As he spoke, quickly, he held the screwdriver up to his ear, starting to look frantic.

"Well, maybe the coordinates have slipped," River suggested, not to worried about it at the moment. "The equipment here's ancient after all." The Doctor brushed her off and ran over to a nearby Node, hoping that maybe they would have something to say.

"Donna Noble. There's a Donna Noble somewhere in this library," the Doctor spoke up to the Node quickly, hoping to find out where his friend was soon. "Do you have the software to locate her position?"

As the Node turned it's head around both the Doctor and River flinched back, looking beyond shocked.

"Donna Noble has left the library. Donna Noble has been saved," the Node replied in a monotone voice, Donna's face the one showing up. The Doctor looked up in despair, feeling close to breaking down.

"Donna..." It had barely been a whisper and yet everyone there could feel the pain he had voiced. The pain of losing what had felt like his older sister.

* * *

May have been a bit cruel on this one... Oh well! You'll find out what happens next time, and how it all ends with River. Oh! One of you asked if River was their daughter. I said no but now... Who knows. Anything could happen. Time can be rewritten after all... Although, if you really REALLY want to know what I am doing... Well...

Spoilers.


	9. Trust

*cackles* Writing frenzy! I had terrible cramps a few hours ago so to get my mind off of it I started typing. It's now 2:24, wait...2:25 am and I have no regrets! So new chapter! Almost down with Forest of the Dead here and then we'll be moving on to Turn Left. Get excited guys, we're finally gonna get to see Rose!

Don't worry, not much longer until we get to 11 and Amy and Rory with Rose thrown in. *starts bouncing* Oh I can't wait to get that far! What? You think I'm not having fun with this? This is a blast! Plus with this my writing keeps getting better and better! No...seriously...go read my crap from before. It...

It's not good...

* * *

"We're going to need a chicken leg," River called out hurriedly, trying to get her breath back after all the running they had been doing. "Who's got a chicken leg?" she half-asked, honestly not expecting much. She then remembered how Other Dave didn't trust his lunchbox. Said it ate his food or something. Quickly spinning around she grabbed the food the man had held out, he was also looking uncomfortable. "Thanks, Dave."

Quickly unwrapping the meat she threw it into the shadows, the meat quickly stripped in less than a second before the bone clattered to the ground. River backed up, trying to put as much distance between her and the shadow as possible. "Okay. Okay, we've got a hot one. Watch your feet!"

The rest of the team was sitting on the ground while she did her best to force back the panic she was feeling at what she was now facing. She had seen a lot of things running with the Doctor and Rose, some she wished she could forget, but this...this had to be one of the worst. She couldn't even fight like she was used to doing...all she could do was run and pray it didn't catch her.

"They won't attack until there's enough of them," the Doctor spoke up, whirling around the room as plan after plan flew through his head. "But they've got our scent now. They're coming." He tried not to think about how depressing that was or how low their chances were. That would just be counterproductive at this point.

"Oh, yeah, who is he?" Other Dave quietly asked, the Doctor tuning the team's words out as he thought. "You haven't even told us. You just expect us to trust him?" Call him old-fashioned but he didn't like to put his life in the hands of someone whose real name he didn't even know.

"He's the Doctor," River replied, as if that was all that needed to be said. The thing that startled him most was how trusting the woman had sounded in saying the man's name. While Other Dave didn't have anything to say to that Lux certainly did.

"And who is _the Doctor_?" the man asked, annoyed as he spread his hands out in as sarcastic a manner as he could. He'd already seen two people die in front of him and he didn't fancy being the next one. River glanced at the Doctor, who was on the other side of the room and scanning with the sonic, looking tense.

"The only story you'll ever tell, if you survive him," River responded, voice hard. Yes. She knew that when you were with the Doctor you sometimes didn't always live. He was like fire, he burned brighter than the stars at times but he could still end up burning you so, so easily. But to River that just made him even more brilliant.

She always had been one for dangerous things.

"You say he's your friend but he doesn't even know who you are," Anita spoke up, sounding confused as to why River seemed to trust the man who obviously wanted nothing to do with her. She knew the Professor was rather persistent but this was just pushing it, even for her.

"Listen," River sighed, "All you need to know is this. I would trust the Doctor and his Rose to the very end of the universe, and actually, we've been... There was a bit of trouble with a wayward alien and all of that..." she trailed off, a smile playing on her lips for a second before it vanished. The team shared a look, once again wondering if this woman was actually sane.

"Um...why does it matter that the Doctor has some Earth flower?" Other Dave asked, looking confused. River looked at him for a few seconds in her own confusion before her eyes lit up and she let out a small laugh.

"No, not an Earth flower. Rose...the woman who is absolutely..._fantastic_," River whispered sadly. Other Dave shifted uncomfortably while Anita looked unsettled at the pure emotion in the woman's voice. "She's the only flower in existence that could possibly whether those storms of his..."

Lux and Other Dave shared a confused look but Anita just shook it off before speaking up. "He doesn't act like he trusts you though." At this River flinched, as if she had just been slapped.

"Yeah, there's a tiny problem," River muttered, "He hasn't met me yet." And she tried not to sound bitter. She really did try...although she didn't think it quite worked, what with Anita's hurt expression and all. Sighing River quickly stood up and walked back over to the Doctor, who was trying to scan the shadows. River's eyes narrowed at the fact that his sonic didn't seem to be working too well.

"What's wrong with it?" she asked before the Doctor glanced over at her, still holding the sonic up to his ear while turning it on and off and trying to get it to work. He wasn't succeeding from what River could tell.

"There's a signal coming from somewhere else, interfering with it," the Doctor muttered back, shaking the screwdriver and then putting it back up to his ear. River tilted her head at why he just didn't use the other settings to stabilize it. Surely that should have been the first thing he tried.

"Then use the red settings," she suggested, taking her gloves off as she did so. She then looked up to see that the Doctor, from where he was kneeling on the floor, was looking back up at her in confusion _and_ annoyance. Mostly annoyance though from what she could tell.

"It doesn't have a red setting," he replied, as if that should be obvious. River just shook her head and looked at him like he was being deliberately stupid. It was a look that she just loved to use on him. Again, Rose had deemed it as karma for all the years he had done the same thing to everyone he had met.

Well, use the dampers, then."

"It doesn't have dampers," he snapped back, sounding as if that should have been obvious. River just rolled her eyes at his tone of voice. She sometimes didn't know how Rose managed to put up with him without slapping him daily.

"It will do one day," she grinned, holding out her own sonic. The Doctor stared at the device strangely for a few seconds before taking it and slowly standing up, eyes narrowing as he looked over at River.

"So, some time in the future me and..." He can't say it. Can even pretend that she might be there one day. "Some day I just _give_ you the sonic." River smiled and nodded, although the Doctor didn't believe her smile even for a second. He knew that smile was fake, he used it all the time, after all.

"Yeah, it was Rose's idea to begin with for some reason," she explained, the Doctor's eyes narrowing even more. Rose had known how important the sonic screwdriver was to him, and she wouldn't have just suggested giving it to someone like that on a whim...not like it mattered.

"And why would she do that?" the Doctor asked, going along with the charade that Rose was there in the future. Maybe it would help him get some information from this woman who seemed to know as much about him as Rose did. He tried not to sound like he was close to snapping, even though he was. River seemed to be trying to keep her temper under control as well since she was slightly twitching her right hand in what looked like a nervous tic.

It also seemed like she was resisting the urge to get her gun.

"I didn't pluck it from your cold, dead hands if that's what you're worried about," River responded, sarcasm layering her voice, trying but not quite covering up the hurt at what she was being accused of. The Doctor couldn't help but internally wince at the hurt he had heard, even if he didn't know why he cared.

"And I know that because?" He never could stop an argument once it was started, especially since that would mean letting the other person win, and he didn't like to lose. Rose had learned that the hard way when she had beaten him at cards one day and they ended up playing until she had fallen asleep in her chair.

"Listen to me," River said quietly and seriously, "You've lost your friend. You're angry. I understand, really, I do. But you _need_ to be less emotional, Doctor. Right now, and you know Rose would be saying the same thing if she was here."

"Less emotional? I'm not emotional!" he bit back, trying not to think about the Rose part. He really did try to believe that he wasn't emotional, he tried as hard as he could. He didn't think it was really working since he could _hear _the lie in his voice, and River probably could to.

"There are five people in this room still alive! Focus on that," River growled, sounding close to slapping the man, again, as she gestured to the three humans sitting off to the side. Anita and Other Dave looked uncomfortable being caught in the middle but Lux just looked annoyed at what was going on. "Dear God, Rose was right when she said you were hard work young."

Before the Doctor can snap back his own retort Lux finally got up in a huff and broke into their argument. "Can we not leave the family fights outside?! Let's save all the domestics for when we're not _dying_!" And damn if the word domestic hadn't made the Doctor flinch. He could just hear the voice of his ninth self viciously swearing in his head. "God, it's like watching the daughter try and convince her father she's all grown up!"

The Doctor refused to think about that last line while River just sighed roughly and looked back to the Doctor. "I'm sorry. I'm really very sorry, Doctor, but one day I'm going to be someone you trust completely...but I can't wait for you to find that out." The Doctor looked confused on why River sounded like she was close to tears before she was suddenly pulling him down by his shoulder and whispering something into his ear.

He was pretty sure what he had just heard shut his brain off.

"Are we good?" River asked, sounding sad. She knew how much hearing that one word would hurt him, how many conclusions he could draw from what she had just said and what he knew right now. They could talk about it later though, later she would figure out _something _to tell him. "Doctor, are we good?"

"Yeah...we're...we're good," the Doctor mumbled back quietly, sounding as if he wasn't quite sure what to think of the woman in front of him anymore. River repressed the urge to make a whimper. At this point she would rather have him glaring at her...but it was alright, for now. She would figure something out.

Right now they needed to get out of here.

::

Night had finally fallen on the Library and River and what remained of her team were sitting in another round room, filled with shelves of books. The woman was absentmindedly scanning the shadows with her own sonic screwdriver but her heart wasn't in it. Instead she was staring at her sonic, a sad smile showing as she stared at the small device that carried so many memories with it.

"You know, it's funny...I keep wishing the Doctor and Rose were here," River shook her head, trying to keep her sadness locked away. She couldn't break down now. Not now. She had people to take care of...was this what the Doctor felt like, she wondered. When things went wrong and others started dying...

"The Doctor is here at least, isn't he? He's coming back, right?" Anita nervously asked, trying not to move so she wouldn't disturb the shadows that were in her suit. She had passed scared a few minutes ago and was now just edgy. It seemed the longer it dragged on the worst it got.

River looked over at Anita quietly, thoughts racing through her head as she thought about what she could say. Memories flooding her she slowly smiled before sitting back "You know when you see a photograph of friends you know, but it's from _years_ before you knew them. And it's like...it's like they're not quite finished. They're not done yet.

"Well, yes, the Doctor came. He came when I called just like he always does...only this time Rose wasn't with him. Not yet...she's not there with him yet. And that's probably the thing that kills me most," River grew quiet as Anita looked at her curiously. "Without Rose the Doctor can become so, _so_ dark... Rose is his sun, she's what keeps him from giving in..."

"Who are they? These friends you keep talking about?" Anita asked, intrigued with what the woman she had come to know was telling her. It sounded like a story, a _fantastic_ story like those she had read as a child. River looked up at her and Anita could have sworn the woman was looking straight into her eyes, even though her helmet was shielded. A wide smile worked it's way on her lips as she talked.

"I called and he came...but not the Doctor I know. Now _my_ Doctor and Rose...where to even begin. I've seen whole armies turn and run away, and those two would just _swagger _off back to their TARDIS. Then he would open the doors with just a snap of his fingers," River snapped her own fingers. As she explained Anita noticed that the woman seemed to be looking at something else. A different time.

"Time's Champion in the TARDIS...with their Bad Wolf. Next stop..._everywhere_..."

"Spoilers." River and Anita both jumped at the voice that came from the balcony above them. River stood up and looked him in the eye as he spoke, a cold look taking over his features. "Ro..." He swallowed, unable to finish saying the name out loud. "_She_ isn't Bad Wolf anymore...I took that out of her, ages ago."

"Are you sure about that?" River asked, meeting his gaze evenly and quirking an eyebrow. "After all, how long did she last with the Time Vortex itself running through her head? How long did you?" The Doctor slightly flinched before his eyes narrowed even further.

"You know, I've been meaning to ask. How do you even _know_ about her if you're from my future?" That was the one question that had been eating at him for hours now. How had she known about Rose when she was sealed away from him, gone for the rest of his life. And if his voice was deep with fury, well... He was too busy interrogating the woman in front of him to really notice.

"Spoilers," River replied evenly, although it sounded like she hated the word as much as he did. Shaking his head the Doctor quickly made his way down the stairs, jumping over the bottom case once he reached it.

"That's another thing, nobody can open a TARDIS by snapping their fingers. It doesn't work like that." River crossed her arms and almost seemed to snort as the man turned his back on her.

"It does for the Doctor." At that the man quickly turned back around and glared, bristling with fury. He was quickly going into what the girls had called _Oncoming Storm mode_.

"I _am_ the Doctor," he growled, River meeting the fury of his gaze evenly. She hated that tone of voice, the one that sounded like he had something to prove, to himself and everyone else. It may have killed her to see this man looking at her like this but damn if she was going to give in now. She never did like to lose, same as him.

They never did play board games on Family Nights after they had learned that...

"Yeah. Some day, when Rose comes back." If there was one thing she believed in it was that the Doctor would always be alright if he had his Rose with him...right now he was as far from alright as he could be. He had been since the day Rose had been ripped from his side.

Turning towards Anita he did his best to put River and her comments out of his mind. They wouldn't do him any good right now. "How are you doing?" he asked, proud that his voice had only come out slightly angry.

"Where's Other Dave?" River asked, finally noticing that the man she had left to stay with the Doctor was gone. The Doctor managed to hide his flinch as he quickly glanced over at her.

"Not coming. Sorry." And he was. He was sorry for every loss of life that seemed to happen around him. He didn't care what Rose said...it always ended up being his fault somehow.

"Well," Anita spoke up, breaking the tension between the two, "If they've taken him then why haven't they gotten me yet?" The Doctor tilted his head to the side as he looked at her, his gaze sweeping over her like that of a puzzle he just couldn't quite get put together. If the girl wasn't so panicked at the situation she probably would have hit him over that.

"I don't know... Maybe tinting your visor's making a difference," he suggested, looking at the two shadows that were behind her. And he really didn't know. Even with the tinted visor she should have been eaten by now.

"It's making a difference all right. No one's ever going to see my face again," she muttered, trying to keep the weakness out of her voice. If she was going to die then she wasn't going to go down sounding like a scared little child. She could at least try to stay strong until the end.

"Can I get you anything?" Just because he knew that her chances were small didn't mean he couldn't help as much as he could.

"An old age would be nice," Anita half-joked, "Anything you can do?" The Doctor grinned, a small spark of amusement in his eyes. He knew he had liked her for a reason.

"I'm all over it," he smiled.

"Doctor..." Anita trailed off, slowly turning back around so she could see his face. "When we first met you, you didn't trust Professor Song. And then she whispered a word in your ear, and you did. My life so far...I could do with a word like that. What did she say?" At the blank stare she got in return she had to repress a sigh. She figured he wouldn't have said anything, she could tell he was the secretive type. "Give a dead girl a break. Your secrets are safe with me."

"Safe..." the Doctor muttered slowly. Safe...safe, saf- Oh. So _that_ was what it was! The Doctor's eyes widened as the puzzle he had been turning over for ages finally clicked into place.

"What?" Anita asked, confused on how the man was now acting.

"Safe," the Doctor repeated, a maniac grin growing on his face. "You don't say saved. Nobody says saved. You say _safe_." He quickly turned around to Lux, who looked startled at the sudden intensity in the man's gaze. "The data fragment! What did it say?"

"Four thousand and twenty two people saved," he repeated slowly, wondering where this was going. "No survivors." River raised an eyebrow as she walked closer, wondering what that clever mind of his was doing now. Knowing him he could be thinking about anything.

"Doctor?" she asked, the Doctor grinning even wider as he threw himself into the equation. The problem that had been staring them in the face the whole time they had been there. Solving problems...this was something he did best.

"Nobody says saved. _Nutters_ say saved. You say safe. You see, it didn't _mean _safe. It meant, it literally meant, _saved_!"

::

"_All library systems are permanently offline. Sorry for any inconvenience. Shortly-_" The computer's warning faded out and the Doctor quickly jumped on the terminal, standing on a small outing as he tried to sonic the screen back on. He was having little success.

"We need to stop this!" Lux broke in, starting to look frantic. "We've got to save Cal!" The Doctor looked down at him, looking annoyed at the unanswered questions he still had.

"What is it? What is Cal?" Maybe knowing the answer would help him figure out what he was missing. The last piece that just didn't seem to fit into place yet. Lux stared at them for a few seconds before sighing.

"We need to get to the main computer." He knew at this point he had no choice but to show them. He had to trust these people. He may not like them...but he knew he could trust them with this. "I'll show you."

"It's at the core of the planet," the Doctor butted in, somewhat rudely. He figured he could be forgiven for this one, since they were low on time until the whole planet basically self-destructed.

"Well, then," River grinned, "Let's go." The Doctor raised an eyebrow before looking over at River and following her with his eyes to where she walked to the middle of the room, right in front of a large seal that reminded him just a bit too much of Krop Tor. He then watched River point her screwdriver at the seal that was in front of them, the library logo from what he could figure. When it opened and he saw the blue streams of light come up he couldn't help but grin.

"Gravity platform," River said serenely while putting her screwdriver up and grinning. The Doctor grinned even wider as he jumped off the terminal he had been standing on and put his own sonic up before coming over to stand by her.

"I bet I like you," the man grinned as the four stepped on the platform and waited as it started to descend into the core.

"Oh, you and Rose both," River smirked. She couldn't wait to get out of here and go visit _her_ Doctor and Rose, they would love this one. Well...Rose would, the Doctor would probably just be embarrassed at how he had acted back then. Not much longer here...

Then she would be back home.

* * *

Okay, few things before I let you go. One, that last line broke my heart a little. I feel terrible yet proud all at the same time. B, no...two, did you all see the part where I put _fantastic _in there? It made me grin and almost cry. But...you know. That's normal for me. Three, or C, the part about 'next stop...everywhere'?

I am _obsessed _with that quote of River's. I'm serious, it's always in my head. So I had _so much_ fun writing it to include Rose in there. Hope you guys liked it too. And finally four, or D, or those brackets with the i and the v, the next chapter will be out in a day or two if I can keep up with this pace.

Obsessed with Doctor Who you say? Yes. Yes I am. OH! Guys...guys...it's March. Do you know what that means? SEASON 7 IS BACK! WE GET TO MEET CLARA AND SEE AWESOME NEW VILLAINS AND CLASSIC OLD ONES! WHOO! AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY EPISODE IS COMING UP!

Okay, are you ready? I SAY DOCTOR YOU SAY WHO!

DOCTOR-

DOCTOR-

DOCTOR-

WHOOO!

Now...did you actually say it? If you did then please dear god tell me. I could do with smiles at seeing there's people as crazy as me out there.

* * *

Note to Que/Self : No more writing notes like this at 2:30am in the morning...it's bad.


	10. An Ending and a Beginning

I think I mentioned a writing frenzy, yeah? Just now typed this up after I uploaded the last one. I kinda don't know what came over me, but I don't mind it! So here ya go! Chapter ten! Woo! With this the River arc is done and we move on to Turn Left.

Rose Tyler is not giving up until she gets back to her Doctor.

Oh yeah! Wanna send a quick thanks to SittingOnTheEdgeOfTheUnivers e. Thanks to their review I remembered something I was gonna do for one of the specials. So yay for that! I also feel more normal now that I have eaten, so double yay for that as well!

I was gonna say something else...

* * *

"_Auto destruct in ten minutes." _

::

As the small group of four ran back into the blue-lighted room of the data core River couldn't help but roll her eyes as the Doctor started going off into yet another one of his mad techno-babbles. She had actually been surprised when she first learned that Rose could keep up with him.

"Easy!" the man shouted, running around the room and pulling cords and opening hatches. He looked like a bouncy ball that wouldn't stop bouncing. "We beam all the people out of the data core! The computer will reset and stop the countdown-oo, that'll be tricky," he muttered before jerking a cord over his shoulder and pushing his glasses up. "Charlotte doesn't have enough memory space left to make the transfer...

"Easy! I'll hook myself up to the computer!" Once River managed to decode the words in his babble spree she felt the sudden urge to strangle the man in front of her. "She can borrow my memory space."

"Difficult," River butted in, countering his easy. She looked frantic as she tried to get her point through to him...Rose was much better at making him see sense than she was. "It'll kill you stone dead!" she yelled, glaring at the man who was now going through the wires in his hands and trying to sound rather laid-back.

"Yeah, it's easy to criticize," he nonchalantly replied back while holding up one of the wires for inspection. He frowned at it before setting it down carefully and picking up another one. River felt the urge to strangle the hell out of him creep up again. This had to be the strongest urge yet.

"It'll burn out both your hearts," she hissed, "And don't think you'll regenerate!"

"I'll try my hardest not to die, then," the Doctor quickly spoke back, looking as if this was just another day for him, which it actually was. "Honestly, it's my main thing. Not dying."

"Oh I don't know _how _Rose can deal with you!" River finally shouted, the Doctor letting out a quick laugh before looking over at the woman and winking.

"I'm just that brilliant." It took a few seconds before he realized he had spoken like Rose was still there, and not... Shaking his head clear he looked back over at River. "I'm right, this works. Shut up," he interrupted her before she could even start, "Now listen. You and Luxy boy, back up to the main library. Prime and data cells you can find for maximum download," he spoke quickly, sonicing the wires in his hand.

"And before you say anything else, Professor, can I just mention in passing as you're here, _shut up!_" he quickly pointed both hands at her before running back to the terminal and going through the programs.

"Oh! I hate you sometimes!" River shouted, her annoyance reaching whole new levels. When she got out of here she was going straight back to her timeline, finding the Doctor, and slapping the hell out of him.

"I know!" the Doctor shouted, not surprised. He mentally apologized to his future self at the slap he was sure to get after all of this was over.

"Mister Lux, with me," River ordered before looking at Anita, "Anita, if he dies, I'll kill him!" she shouted, shooting a glare his way before she followed Lux out the door.

"What about the Vashta Nerada?" the spacesuited woman asked, her voice sounding too flat for the situation they were in. The Doctor didn't even pause as he kept running around, getting things ready for what he was about to do.

"These are their forests," he spoke quickly, "I'm going to seal Charlotte inside her little world and take everybody else away. The shadows can swarm to their hearts' content."

"So you think they're just going to let us go?" she asked, the Doctor slightly flinching before continuing with his work.

"Best offer they're going to get," he replied flatly, sounding close to growling.

"You're going to make 'em an offer?"

"And they'd better take it," the Doctor finally snapped, turning around to face the suit in front of him, "Because right now I'm finding it very hard to make any kind of offer at all. And you know what? I really liked Anita. She was brave, even when she was crying," he frowned, pulling something up on the screen he was now in front of again.

"And she never gave in. And you ate her." A quick burst of the sonic and the visor was cleared to show the bleached skull staring back at him. Reigning in his anger he took a deep breath before looking back down at the terminal. "But I'm going to let that pass, just as long as you them pass," he explained coolly, tucking his sonic away as he turned back to stare at the swarm in front of him.

"How long have you known?" Anita's voice asked, the Doctor's eyes narrowing in response.

"I counted the shadows," he muttered, glancing at the neural relay on the suit. "You only have one now, she's nearly gone... Be kind."

"These are our forests. We are not kind."

"I'm giving you back your forests! But you are giving me _them_. You are letting them go!" he shouted, turning to walk away as he did so.

"These are our forests. They are our meat," the voice said, an arm raising as shadows stretched forward from Anita's spacesuit to the Doctor.

"Don't play games with me!" he snapped, spinning around. "You just killed someone I liked, that is not a safe place to stand! I'm the Doctor, and you're in the biggest library in the universe. Look me up." There was a pause, the very air itself still, before the shadows slowly withdrew.

"You have one day." The Doctor turned back to the terminal as the spacesuit collapsed. A set of footsteps running cause him to glance over to see River's expression of sadness and horror as she bent down to rest a hand on Anita's helmet.

"Oh, Anita..."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor softly spoke up, "She's been dead a while now. And I told you to go!" he snapped the last part, furiously typing into the terminal. He had to move fast if he wanted his plan to work.

"Lux can manage without me, but you can't," River said coldly. "The only one who can keep you from doing something stupid is Rose, but she's not here, so now I have to stop your idiotic Time Lord self from doing this!" The Doctor finally felt himself snap as he spun around to tell the woman off.

He hadn't been expecting the fist to his face.

As he felt his mind fall into unconsciousness he couldn't help but think that Jackie Tyler would have been very proud of that punch. It was almost certainly on par with that woman's slap... A world of Jackies and Rivers...now _that_ was a frightening thought.

::

"_Auto destruct in two minutes."_ River sighed softly before glancing at the terminal and then back to the wires in her hand that she was twisting, looking determined yet detached.

The Doctor slowly stirred, wincing as he felt his arm burning in pain. Looking up and feeling the memories of what had happened come rushing back he jerked up and looked over at River. "Oh, no, no, no, no! Come on, what are you doing?! That's my job!"

"Oh, and I'm not allowed to have a career, I suppose?" River joked, the Doctor hearing the tears in her voice that she was trying so hard to hold in. She was joking and trying not to show it, he should know...he had done that too many times to keep count of. He had been about to jerk forward before he looked at his arm and saw what was holding him back.

"Why am I handcuffed?" he asked incredulously, not quite believing what was happening. "Why do you even have handcuffs?" He tugged on them and found that they were actually very sturdy. River looked at him for a few seconds before an absolutely _filthy _expression took over.

"Spoilers...although...they aren't exactly mine to begin with," and here the Doctor flinched as her grin grew wider. "I actually borrowed them from Rose not too long ago, she said she had gotten better ones." The Doctor stared at River blankly as his mind seemed to shut off at that thought.

River counted it at ten seconds before he finally shook his daze off.

"This is not a joke! Stop this now," he pleaded, his voice starting to get frantic. "I'd have a chance, you don't have any!" He could see her. When he looked hard he could see the Time Traces that were scattered around her, not as many as Rose had but still more than a normal human should have. Rose's could be blamed on Bad Wolf...but what was causing River's?

And why did it feel like he was watching Jenny die all over again?

"You wouldn't have a chance, and neither do I!" River shouted before she slowly reigned in her outburst and went back to twisting the wires and smiling sadly. "I'm timing it for the end of the countdown," she explained as she looked over at the terminal, where there was little over a minute left. "There'll be a blip in the command flow, that way it should improve our chances of a clean download."

"River, please... No." The woman tried not to flinch at the words. For a second, a single second, she had heard _her _Doctor's voice, and oh did it burn her.

"The funny thing is...this means you and Rose have always known how I was going to die," River talked, her voice shaky as she forced the words out. "The last time I saw you and her, the real you, the _future _you, I mean. You two turned up on my doorstep...you had a new haircut and a _suit_ of all things, and Rose was wearing such a beautiful black dress, with her hair all done up...

"You both took me to Darillium to see the Singing Towers...what a night that was. The Towers sang and then Rose started to cry...and you were so silent as you held us both."

"_Auto destruct in one minute."_ River shook off most of her thoughts as the computer interrupted her.

"You two wouldn't tell me why but I suppose you knew it was time. My time. Time to come to the library. Rose even gave me her old screwdriver that you and her had built together...that should have been a clue," she chuckled and the Doctor winced at the sound. Her voice sounded like she was starting to accept what was happening to her, and that was what killed him more than anything.

"River...why do you know Rose in the future," the Doctor shakily asked, sounding close to tears himself as he jerked on his handcuffs. "Rose is gone. She's sealed off in another universe! _She's never coming back_!" he finally screamed, letting his grief and anger out in that one sentence.

"I told you, you silly man... You were never one for believing in the impossible," River grinned before the Doctor jerked towards the two screwdrivers and her diary, the items just out of his reach. "There's nothing you can do." She sounded tired, and sad. Resigned to what was about to happen to her.

"You can let _me_ do this." At that River's eyes narrowed as she glared at the man in front of her.

"If you die here it'll mean I've never met you!"

"Time can be rewritten!" And at that River looked like a wolf that had just had it's pack threatened. Raised hackles and growling voice.

"Not those times. Not _one_ line. Don't you _dare_. If you die here then Rose will never see you again either, and she needs you just as much as you need her!" River shouted, the Doctor finally falling silent as he stared at her.

"I...I see Rose again?" River softly smiled as she saw the hopeful look in his eyes. It was an expression that almost broke her heart. "But..."

"It's okay," River said soothingly, now smiling softly. "It's okay. It's not over for you, not by a long shot. You'll see both me and Rose again. You've got all of that to come... You and me and Rose, all of time and space. You just watch us run."

"River..." the Doctor spoke up shakily, tears now clouding his eyes, "You know my name."

"_Auto destruct in ten." _

"You whispered my name in my ear... There's only one reason I would ever tell someone my name. There's only ever one time I _could_."

"_Nine, eight."_

"And what makes you think I learned it from you?" River asked softly, a watery grin on her face as she placed the wires on her head and looked over at him.

"_Seven, six._"

"The only way I could know your name was if I married you...or if you wife had told me..." At this the Doctor couldn't help it as his eyes widened and he started shaking.

"_Five, four."_

"There was only one person I would every consider marrying," he said, a few tears finally slipping past him, "One human... But she's..."

"_Three, two." _

"Spoilers," River smiled sadly, joining the two thick cables in her hands together.

"_One."_

There was a blinding flash of white light and then Professor River Song knew no more.

::

The Doctor absently traced one of the squares on River's diary as he set it down on the balcony rail that he and Donna had first arrived at. Coming up beside him Donna stared at him sadly as she looked down at the book.

"Your friend, Professor Song," she started slowly, "She knew you in the future, but she didn't know me. What happens to me? Because when she heard my name...the way she looked at me..." That look had been terrifying.

"Donna, this is her diary. My future," he explain, his hand nervously twisting the book back and forth. "I could look you up. What do you think? Shall we peek at the end?" Really he wanted to look up what the book had to say on Rose and what River knew about her, how she had known about her.

"Spoilers, right?" Donna half-asked. The Doctor pressed his hand against the book flatly, stopping the book's movement. When Donna put it like that...

"Right," he muttered, the two sharing a small smile as he lifted his hand off the book. He supposed he would just have to take his story one page at a time... Ugh, the slow path. There was a reason he never stayed still for very long. Carefully pulling out River's sonic he set the screwdriver down on the diary gently. "Come on. The next chapter's this way."

The two slowly walked back up the stairs, an air of depression about them. They had both lost someone they cared for that day, even if they hadn't known them like they should have.

"_When you run with the Doctor and his Rose it feels like it will never end. But however hard you try, you can't run forever. Everybody knows that everybody dies, and nobody knows it like those two. But I do think that all the skies of all the worlds might just turn dark if they ever, for one moment, accept it." _

The Doctor suddenly found himself running back to the balcony and picking the screwdriver back up, looking beyond stunned at what he was now holding. Donna came up from behind him, looking confused.

"Why? Why would I give her my screwdriver? Why would I do that?!" he shouted, hands ghosting across the surface as he looked for something that he just _knew_ was there. "Thing is, future me and Rose had years to think about it. All those years to think of a way to save her, and what we did was we gave her a screwdriver!" the Doctor explained, looking frantic and not even noticing that he had mentioned Rose in the future tense.

"Why would we do that?!" Suddenly tearing something off the side he grinned widely, a neural relay blinking back at him with two yellow-green lights. "Oh... Oh! Oh! Look at that! We are _very_ good!"

"What have you done?"

"Saved her," the Doctor grinned, running back out the archway, Donna looking after him in confusion before deciding to head back towards the TARDIS. She had a feeling this was something that he needed to do without her.

::

Running through the stacks of books the Doctor looked as one of the lights went out. Cursing he sped his pace up. "Stay with me! Come on you can do it! Stay with me! One last run with me and Rose!" As soon as the words were out of his mouth he felt a hand grip his. A hand that was so very, _very_ familiar to him. The Doctor grinned even wider as the three of them raced down the halls of books, three because he _knew_ she was there.

He grinned as they ran and ran.

"_Everybody knows that everybody dies. But not _every _day. Not today." _

::

River couldn't stop her teary smile as she looked around at what had now been given to her. "Those two...those two _impossible_ people...they just couldn't do it... They never could."

"_Some days are special. Some days are so, _so_ blessed. Some days nobody dies at all." _

The Doctor's fingers snapped before the doors to his beloved TARDIS swung open, welcoming him _home_. The Doctor's grin grew even wider as the sparkle flashed back into his eyes at the feeling of a small presence against his mind, so small he could barely even feel it. It was a feeling that reminded him of a small pink and yellow human. If River had been right in what she had told him...

He had some interesting things to look forward to...

::

"_Now and then, every once in a very long while, every day in a million days when the wind stands fair and the Doctor and his Wolf comes to call... _Everybody lives," River spoke softly, closing the blue book in her hands gently before she absently ran a hand over it.

Quietly standing up she bent down and gave Charlotte a kiss goodnight on her forehead, lingering for a few seconds before turning to glance at Ella and Joshua as she did so. Seeing that all three children were asleep River grinned and headed back out towards the door.

"Sweet dreams," she spoke softly before turning the lights off and glancing down at her diary one more time. Even though her days of running with the Doctor and Rose were over those two still had _so many _to come. So many wonderful adventures...and so many terrible heartaches. They would share them together.

The Doctor in the TARDIS with Rose Tyler... As it should be.

* * *

I couldn't help but grin as I typed out those last few lines. The fact that happy music was on at the time was also a plus. Soon we will be done with bits and pieces and we'll be getting into the full re-writes, so stay tuned! And what was that thing I was going to say... Something... Something important...

Hmph...watch me think of it right before I go to sleep or something...


	11. Jumps

Last night was crazy. I typed up two whole chapters and it was for the episode I hated doing more than anything. How's that for awesome?! So this chapter includes lots of Rose! Yay! And terrible cliches, but, you know. Cliches and me go way back. So enjoy, the next chapter will be up in a few days. Trying to create buffers for when I'll be too busy to write.

And...one more thing I was gonna say... Ugh. I keep forgetting stuff!

* * *

"We found a body, sir. Over," a young soldier spoke into the radio he held in his hand. He fidgeted from foot-to-foot, as if he regretted even thinking the words, let alone saying them. And who could blame him, in another universe he would have been the one to give his life to help the Doctor save this world.

"Is it him? Over," the voice on the radio spoke up, the young solider, Harris, shifted again as the ambulance personnel brought the body over on a stretcher, a large orange-red blanket covering over what had once been the Doctor.

"I think so," Harris replied, trying to sound as detached from the situation as he could. It was hard, to be the one to tell others the Doctor was dead. He had heard the stories, they all had. The man who had saved the Earth too many times to count, and who had always escaped with his life. "He just didn't make it out in time."

Donna slowly walked around one of the vehicles, looking at the scene in curiosity. Doctor? That sounded familiar, so, so familiar to her...but why. She had known lots of doctors in her lifetime so why should this one be making her anxious. Doctor who?

As the stretcher was lifted into the ambulance Donna watched as an arm dropped out from under the blanket, a strange and glinting, metal device dropping from the man's hand and onto the ground. If she had remembered who the man in front of her was she would have known it was the Doctor's sonic screwdriver.

"The Doctor is dead," Harris continued. "Must have happened too fast for him to regenerate." The man fell quiet as the sonic screwdriver on the ground slowly came to a stop. Donna couldn't help but think that the device looked so wrong without it being in a person's hands, a person who she couldn't remember. "Escort the ambulance back to UNIT base," Harris called out to the two personnel, putting his radio up as he did so.

This was a sad day if the Doctor was indeed dead.

Donna slowly walked away, feeling as if she should be remembering something as she watched a blond woman who looked hardly twenty came running towards her. The woman stopped in front of her before looking towards the ambulance and looking frantic.

"What happened? What did they find? I'm sorry, did they find someone?" Rose tried to be civil, really she did. She was just having a hard time of it when she was now _so close _to finding a Doctor that coincided with her timeline. The last time she had almost ended up causing a paradox, and she wasn't too interested in repeating that. She still had nightmares about the Reapers from the first time she had messed with history.

That had been a bad day all around.

"I don't know," Donna replied, sounding confused. She felt as if something was wrong but she wasn't quite sure what. "A bloke called the Doctor or something." Rose half-smiled at that. She was close...now she just needed to find out if this was _her_ Doctor.

"Well...where is he, then?" Rose asked, sounding impatient as she looked back towards the ambulance the same time as Donna. She noticed the older woman's sad and pitying look as the feeling that something was wrong seemed to solidify. A brush against the back of her mind made her tense up before she was looking back at Donna.

"They took him away... He's dead," Donna said sadly, looking into Rose's eyes as she said so. She was surprised by just how much pain she saw there. It looked as if she had just been told her whole family had been killed. "I'm sorry, did you know him? I mean," she tried to help this young woman in front of her as the girl quietly looked away as she walked past her. "They didn't say his name. Could be any Doctor."

"This is wrong...this is so, _so _wrong..." Rose whispered quietly, looking up at Donna with a steely glint in her eyes. "This whole universe is wrong...if the Doctor's dead then it's wrong." Rose didn't believe for a second that this was the right universe. Something was going on...something was wrong and whatever it was ended up causing this universe to lose it's Doctor.

Like hell she was going to stand for that.

"It, it could be anyone," Donna quietly tried to reassure the girl, not quite sure what she was talking about. The universe was wrong? She knew it hurt to lose a loved one but she didn't think the girl would blame the universe, she looked too smart for doing something as childish as that.

Pushing her pain away for the moment Rose looked back over at the woman in front of her. She didn't know how but she knew that this woman was the key to what was going on here. It was an instinct in her head, and she had longed learned to trust her instincts, especially when they concerned the Doctor.

"What's your name?" Rose asked, sounding curious and determined at the same time. This woman couldn't be...surely not? Although...it would explain why there was something strange about her. Just standing near her gave Rose a sense of calm, and responsibility. She had to keep this woman safe, and alive, although she didn't know why. Yet.

"Donna. And you?" Donna asked, trying her best to be polite to the strange girl in front of her. Rose's eyes widened a fraction of an inch at hearing the name. Donna. Could it be... The woman who was the most important person in all of creation. Who all the timelines converged on.

Shaking her head clear Rose spoke up, "Oh, I was just passing by. I shouldn't even be here...not really..." At this Donna noticed the girl sounded like those words were ones she hated more than anything. Then she noticed the girl was glancing at her back. "This is wrong...this is all so wrong...and maybe that's why... Sorry, what was it? Donna what?"

"Why do you keep looking at my back?" Donna accused, sounding irritated. Everyone seemed to look at her back and she was getting sick of it. Rose looked away, feeling slightly guilty that she had gotten caught so easily. Usually she was better at hiding things like this, and observing without getting caught. She had to be to do what she did.

Jumping through time and space wasn't as easy as the Doctor made it look. Not by half.

"I'm not," Rose denied, trying to sound like she was surprised that Donna had accused her of it. She was probably doing a pretty poor job since the woman didn't even look slightly convinced. The Doctor had probably had his hands full dealing with her on a regular basis...oh...that was something she wold have liked to seen.

"Yes, you are," Donna argued back. "You keep looking behind me. You're doing it now! What is it? What's there?!" she asked, frantically looking behind her to try and see what it was that everyone else seemed to be able to see on her. "Did someone put something on my back?" she demanded, turning back around to glare at the strange girl she had just met.

Only to find her gone.

::

Rose let out a sigh as she landed from her dimension jump, not even bothering to get up as Mickey and the others swarmed around her and asked if she was alright. She was used to that part, what she wasn't used to was hearing that her Doctor was _dead_.

"Rose, babe, are you alright?" Mickey asked, kneeling down to look at the girl, who had yet to move from where she had landed. Rose looked over at him blankly for a few seconds before burying herself in his arms, trying not to break down. Mickey seemed to know something was wrong since he shooed the scientists away, Jake helping until it was only the three of them left in the room.

"Rosie...what's wrong?" Jake asked, Rose shaking her head while still buried in Mickey's coat. "Did something happen? Wrong time again? Wrong universe?" Mickey and Jake shared a look as they looked at the shivering blonde in front of them. Both of them forgot just how young Rose was sometimes. She could act like she was an adult all she wanted but in the end she was just a girl trying to get back to the man she loved.

"Rose, you're gonna have to talk eventually," Mickey murmured as Jake sat down on the floor beside them, the two managing to get Rose into a sitting position. Rose looked up at them, tears threatening to fall even if she was doing her best to hold them back. "What happened?"

"The Doctor died," Rose choked, a tear slipping past before she furiously rubbed at her eyes. Mickey and Jake shared a shocked look before looking back at the girl who was trying so hard not to break down.

"Rosie, are you sure?" Jake asked. The Doctor he knew didn't sound as if would die that easily. In his opinion that alien was too badass to die. He had sent the Cybermen and the Daleks to hell for crying out loud! How could someone like that suddenly die?! "I mean, maybe it was someone else or something?"

"How many people do you know who go by _the Doctor_," Mickey snorted before wincing at Rose's broken expression. Jake rolled his eyes before hitting the man on the arm. He winced but didn't complain, he had probably deserved that.

"That universe was wrong," Rose muttered, trying her best to stop her shaking as she looked at her two best friends. They looked back confused, Mickey raising an eyebrow and Jake giving her a look for her to continue. "I don't know how to explain it guys, it just felt like something was changing that universe... Something interfered with Time," Rose hissed, the two flinching back from her.

Her eyes had shined golden.

"Well, how do you know something was causing it?" Jake asked, sitting back and leaning his arm against one of his knees. Rose looked up at him before she grinned and tapped the side of her head, looking delighted.

"I heard her...when I was there. It was faint, and brief, but I heard her..." Rose chuckled, sounding delighted before her sad smile slowly returned. Mickey and Jake looked shocked, at the chuckle more than anything. The Rose they had come to know the past few months hadn't done much smiling at all, let alone laughing.

"Who did you hear?" Mickey asked, already having an idea on what she was talking about. He slowly grinned along with Rose. "Or should I be asking what you heard?"

"The TARDIS," Rose laughed, "She was there. And she...well...she didn't actually tell me but I understood the feeling," Rose explained, sounding excited again as she slowly stood up, Jake helping her. "Someone messed with time, and that means that the Doctor isn't supposed to be dead! He's still alive somewhere!"

"Okay...so how are you gonna fix our universe then?" Mickey asked, sounding confused. He and Rose had learned a lot about time and space travel since they had joined the Torchwood in Pete's world but he still didn't know enough about how to set a universe right.

"Donna Noble," Rose smiled as Mickey joined them in standing up before raising an eyebrow, not knowing what she was getting at. Jake just looked confused as he titled his head to the side.

"You mean that woman who the timelines were converging on?" he asked, Mickey looking at him and Rose in surprise before looking miffed.

"Whoa, wait, when did you two learn that?!" he demanded, Jake chuckling while Rose just shook her head.

"Maybe if you attended the meetings every once in a while," Rose teased with her tongue-touched smile, the one the two boys hadn't seen since she had been with the Doctor. Mickey couldn't help but grin back, even if the two were, well, in lack of a better phrase, taking the mickey out on him.

"Yeah, well someone has to make sure this cannon thing doesn't blow you to bits," the man muttered back before shaking his head and scratching the back of his neck. "So you really think you can fix everything? Cause according to those four-eyes up there we don't have much time left..."

"I know I can," Rose grinned determinedly while stretching her back out and looking towards the equipment eagerly. Jake seemed to catch it since he stepped in front of her and glared his best big brother glare.

"Don't even think about it," he muttered, Rose raising an eyebrow and trying to show an expression that she had no clue what he was talking about it. "I know you Rosie, and there's no way you're going back on another jump so soon."

"What?! Rose! You gotta be kidding!" Mickey jumped in, looking like his friend had finally snapped and gone crazy. Rose rolled her eyes before crossing her arms and looking at the two determinedly.

"Really I don't know what you two are so worried about. The cannon isn't that bad-"

"Isn't that bad? The first time you used that thing you almost got torn to bits!" Mickey shouted, Jake nodding in agreement. Rose winced at that part, she had hoped they had forgotten that by now, she knew she wished she could. The first travel with the cannon, well...that hadn't been pleasant. At all.

"Just...wait a few hours at least... I know you're eager to get back to the Doctor but you can't just rush in," Jake explained gently, Rose softly sighing before slightly nodding her head in agreement. She supposed she could at least wait a few hours. "And I mean, if something happened to you and he found out he would rip the universes apart to get here, just so he could kill us!"

Ah, and the truth will out.

Rose snorted in amusement as Mickey slapped Jake on the back of his head, the latter looking contrite as he rubbed his head. "Yeah, well, you know you wanted to say the same thing." Mickey decided not to answer back to that. "Now come on Rosie, let's get some food in you...and maybe freak out the newer recruits with your perfect emotionless face," Jake snickered, Mickey chuckling along with him.

Rose rolled her eyes but followed them anyways. They were right, she could wait a few more hours for the next jump if she had waited this long. She was just thankful she had her two boys, otherwise she never would have made it even this far. She would have given up after she had met her first Doctor when traveling.

Oh that had taken some explaining...

::

Rose tried not to fall flat on her face as she stumbled out of what looked to be an alleyway, running to keep her balance. She was going to slap that scientist when she got back. He said they had fixed the launching and running issues.

"Blimey! Are you alright?!" Looking behind her and seeing the woman she had come to find Rose figured that the scientist had escaped her slap yet. He had gotten her next to Donna after all, even if the entry has be rough. Again. Well at least this time she didn't land on _top_ of a younger Doctor. "What was that, fireworks or-"

"I don't know," Rose lied expertly. She was staring to feel guilty she could lie so well, but when you traveled between universes that was one of the first things you learned. That and to never trust the scientists when they said you wouldn't be running away from huge, slimy aliens. "I was just walking along. That's weird."

She tried to suppress her smile, she really needed to work on that, along with the amusement in her voice. Usually she wasn't this bad but she was starting to feel giddy now. So close. So very close to seeing her Doctor again.

"You're the one," Donna pointed at her accusingly, "Christmas Eve. I met you in town."

"Donna? Isn't it?" Rose grinned, happy that things were starting to go right for once, even though Donna looked at her stunned, and a little confused. Now if she could just keep Donna safe...and it wasn't just because this woman was instrumental in getting the universe back right. It was because she was a future companion, and she wouldn't dare let one of his companions get hurt.

The idiot would just blame himself.

"What was your name?" Donna asked. Luckily Rose was good at deflecting that question, she had to be what with what she was doing. Hm...she wondered if the Doctor would be too happy at seeing her to yell at her over destroying worlds and universes, and herself, just for the sake of getting back to him.

Probably not.

"How're you doing?" Rose asked, "You're looking good..." There. Something on Donna's back that shouldn't be there. Something that was causing Time to go wrong. Her eyes hardened at the thought. "How's things, what've you been up to?"

"You're doing it again," Donna glanced at her own back before glaring back up at Rose, who was startled at how quick the woman could sound angry.

"What?"

"Looking behind me. People keep on doing that, looking at my back," Donna explained, her voice sounding hard and accusing. Rose couldn't help but think that her and the Doctor must have had a lot of fights- Oo... She could just imagine this woman meeting her _first _Doctor, back when he had worn leather and had that northern accent.

"What sort of people?" she asked, getting back on track to what she was here to do. Blimey she was getting as bad as the Doctor, rambling in her own thoughts.

"People in the street," Donna explained quietly, "Strangers. I just catch them sometimes, staring at me. Like they're looking at something. And then I get home, and I look, and there's nothing there!" Rose watched as the woman's head whipped around and she looked behind her, trying to get a glimpse at her back as if she had heard or felt something. "See?! Look, now I'm doing it!"

"What are you doing for Christmas?" Rose asked, mind racing through what she knew was going to happen and what she knew she had to do. She couldn't let Donna stay in England for Christmas, that would...that wouldn't be good.

"What am I _what_?" The girl couldn't help but grin at the tone of voice. Oh yes, she very much would love to see her and the Doctor butt heads, as soon as she got him back.

"Next Christmas. Any plans?" Besides being killed by a space version of the Titanic. Oh she hadn't quite believed it when she had learned about _that_. She also couldn't help but rub her eyes and wonder why the Doctor attracted so much trouble.

"I don't know. That's ages away... Nothing much, I suppose. Why?" Donna asked, sounding confused as to why this girl would even care what she was doing months from now.

"Just..." Rose trailed off, struggling to find words she could say without freaking the woman out. Glancing at her coat she slightly picked at the sleeve, feeling a surge of strength go through her. When she had been ordered to choose something to keep her warm during jumps she hadn't even thought before she had picked up the blue leather jacket. How could she not?

She knew that all the Doctors were the same, but she still missed her first Doctor at times, and the leather helped her remember what she was searching for, and where to find her strength. The fact it was blue like his eyes had been was just a bonus. "I think you should get out, you and your family. Don't stay in London. Just leave the city." Even though she sounded as convincing as she could she also couldn't stop her fidgeting, which she had probably also gotten from the Doctor.

"What for?" Donna asked, although it was sounding as if she was asking why she should even be listening to the girl in front of her when she didn't even know her.

"Nice hotel... Christmas break?" She really did need to learn how to come up with excuses better. She was too dependent on the psychic paper by half.

"Can't afford it," Donna spoke back, like it was obvious.

"Well, no, but you got that raffle ticket," Rose suddenly remembered, grinning slightly.

"How do you know about that?" Oops...giving spoilers was something she needed to learn to control...usually she had the Doctor to keep her from saying something too stupid.

"First prize, luxury weekend break. Use it, Donna Noble."

"Why won't you tell me your name?!" Donna shouted, her voice sounding harsh as Rose just stared at her silently. "I think you should just leave me alone," the woman muttered lowly, circling around the girl before walking off resolutely. Rose sighed before walking forward and calling command back.

With a flash of light Rose Tyler was once again gone from the universe.

::

"Good jump?" Mickey asked, steadying Rose as she came flying back into the room. He only had to take one look at Rose's glare before he gently let her go and stood behind her, it was way safer back there than to stand in her path. "Rose? Babe, you okay?"

The rest of the room watched the young Tyler woman stalk over to the scientist in charge of inputting directions before every single one of them was wincing in phantom pain. Mickey couldn't help but think that Rose's slaps were sometimes worse than her mother's.

"What was that for?!" the scientist whined from his spot on the floor, holding a hand to his now flaming red cheek. Rose just turned her full glare on him before letting out a low growling sound, the scientist making an undignified whimpering noise before Rose walked out of the room, Mickey following after her.

"So...wanna talk about it?" Mickey asked, not too worried about any slaps that may come his way. He knew it was just Rose's way of dealing with stress without killing anyone. Besides, she always went easy on him and Jake. Rose glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes before sighing and leaning against his shoulder as she walked.

"I'd rather just drown my sorrows in ice cream," the girl muttered, feeling childish again. Really she had no clue where the ice cream addiction had come from, she just had a very distinct memory of someone buying her ice cream when she was hurt and little and the habit had just stuck.

Actually...thinking back on it now for some reason now she could almost remember a long brown coat that went all the way down to the man's ankles...over a pinstripe suit... And crazy brown hair... "Son of a bitch!"

"What? What's wrong?!" Mickey asked, tensing and expecting an alien to come flying through the window. Instead he just saw Rose looked shocked before suddenly cracking up in laughter. She was doubled over and gasping for breath when Jake came running up to them with a folder of the latest jump data.

"Um...do I even wanna ask?" Jake looked towards Mickey, who just held up his hands and shook his head. He had no clue what was going on. The two men watched Rose as she slowly calmed down, her breathing almost under control as she looked back up at them with a tongue-touched smile and flushed cheeks.

If they thought the world was ending for a second, well, you could hardly blame them.

"I just figured out who to blame for my ice-cream addiction," Rose chuckled, still trying to get air in her lungs. "Oh that little hypocrite. Goes off criticizing me for changing time and then he just pops up all throughout my childhood," she snorted, Jake helping her stand up.

"Wait...the Doctor was in your childhood?" Jake asked, sounding confused. Mickey just looked surprised, even though he probably wouldn't have put it past the man, as crazy as he was. He could definitely see him going back in time to see a younger Rose, even at the price of causing a paradox.

Those two were obsessed with each other, each willing to risk destroying the universes just to get a glimpse of each other for a few seconds.

"So, ice cream then?" Mickey asked, Rose nodding as she linked arms with the two and started off towards the cafe, a small smile still on her face. The two shared a look over her head before grinning, happy that she was so close to getting the Doctor back. He half-wished he could be there when the two reunited, just to see the Doctor's expression.

It was sure to be hilarious.

* * *

So, included some information about Rose's side of things. And really? A blue, leather jacket? How could she not think about the Doctor! IT was too good...and yeah. The Doctor going back and giving little Rose ice cream when she was hurt? Admit it, it's so easy to see. Anyone know how long Rose was in the parallel world? Two years his time, yeah? Yeah...I'll just say two years. AU rewrite anyways. XD

*thinks about going towards season 5* ARGH! DAMN YOU MOFFAT! WHY MUST YOU MAKE EVERYTHING SO COMPLICATED?!


	12. Two Words

Spent 3 hours looking at DW pics today. I cried. A lot. They kinda took my heart and ripped it into shreds. And oh my god these two videos I saw... Hold on! I have to get the links and show you! It was just... Whoa.

youtube com/watch?v=1H52q7Z64LE&list=FLs-6D_q3XiEqZ45lURe3Lcg&feature=mh_lolz - So fantastically done you'll think it's real.

youtube com/watch?v=ss-zQeNu01k&list=FLs-6D_q3XiEqZ45lURe3Lcg - You will laugh. You will cry. You will laugh while crying. It's that amazing.

Now go! Go and enjoy those two videos! Then you can come back and read my crappy fanfiction!

**Edit : Props to CoryAvellana who caught two typos. Once where I confused Jake with Jack's name, which is super easy to do. And where I fixed the part about the Doctor sounding from the north yet British. Should sound a bit better now. Thanks again Cory!**

* * *

Out of the corner of her eye Donna had seen the bright flash of light. Even with her mom screaming at her to come back she knew she couldn't. She had to find out what was going on, once and for all. Something was happening to the planet, and that blonde knew what it was.

"Hello," Donna spoke up softly, sounding as if she wasn't too surprised to see the young girl in front of her. Rose just smiled sadly as she looked back up at the woman standing in front of her, ready to at least listen.

"Hi."

::

"It's the ATMOS devices," Rose explained, nervously rubbing the back of her neck in a gesture she hadn't quite gotten rid of. "We're lucky, it's not so bad here. Britain hasn't got that much petrol left. But all over Europe, China, South Africa...they're all getting choked by gas." She set her arm back down while still looking up at the sky.

"Can't anyone stop it?" Donna asked, sounding worried at all that was going on around her in this world that, according to this girl, shouldn't exist. Rose just smiled sadly while trying to push the tears back.

"Yeah, they're trying right now. This little band of fighters, on board the Sontaran ship. Any second now," Rose almost choked before she shoved the memories of Jack away. She had been so shocked to see that he was here on Earth in her time, and she was so chewing the Doctor out for that when she saw him. She hadn't even been able to talk to the Captain...not when this universe was already so fragile. And it had killed her not to be able to even hug the man she had come to see as a big brother to her.

A few seconds later and a wave of fire seemed to burn the sky as it ate up the smoke that had been enveloping the planet. Rose smiled sadly as she thought of the people who had risked their lives to save the planet they loved. She glanced over to see that Donna was gaping up at the sky in shock. "And that was?"

"That was the Torchwood team," Rose said softly, thinking about Torchwood and all that it had done. This one was good though, the same way the one in her universe was good. "Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, they gave their lives. And Captain Jack Harkness was transported to the Sontaran home world... There's no one left..." And damn if that thought didn't tear her up inside. She had found out about Jack only to lose him again.

"You're always wearing the same clothes," Donna accused, her eyes darting up and down the girl for a second. Rose looked over at her sadly, knowing how frustrating this had to be for her. If it was her she would have been throwing out some Tyler slaps by now. "Why won't you tell me your name?"

"None of this was meant to happen," Rose explained seriously, sounding close to choking up again. "You see...there was this man. This _fantastic_ man..." she chuckled, a nostalgic smile on her face as the word passed her lips, "and he stopped it. He stopped all of it from happening. The Titanic, the Adipose, the ATMOS, everything."

"That Doctor?" Donna half-asked, feeling as if she should already know all of this. Rose looks over at her softly before half-smiling and looking towards the ground.

"You knew him," she said, as if it was obvious, even though Donna was reeling at that.

"Did I?" Donna asked, "When?" She was confused but there was something...something there itching at the back of her mind. Why did this Doctor sound so familiar when she hadn't even meet him, let alone remembered him.

"I think you dream about him sometimes," Rose smiled. It was impossible not to dream about that man once you met him, he was too big of an impact. "He's a man in a suit, a pinstriped suit. Tall... He's thin, and a little bit foxy," Rose chuckled, remember their New Earth visit well, "He's also rude, very, _very_ rude...and not ginger, although he has great hair. Some..._really _great hair." She really did try not to laugh. It was just too easy to picture the Doctor's face if he had heard her say that.

"Who are you?" Donna asked softly, although it didn't sound like she was asking for a name anymore.

"I was like you," Rose explained, "I used to be you. You've traveled with him, Donna. You've traveled with the Doctor in a different world, a different universe. The _proper_ universe."

"I never met him, and he's dead," Donna interrupted, trying not to think about the fact that saying that almost killed her inside. Rose seemed to know what she was feeling since she gave her a small smile.

"He died, underneath the Thames on Christmas Eve...but _you_ were meant to be there. He needed someone to stop him, he always needs someone to stop him, that daft man," Rose chuckled, Donna looking at her in confusion. "You made him leave that day. You saved his life."

As a memory that never should have happened floated to the surface of her mind Donna jumped up off the bench and backed away nervously, Rose following her with a worried look. "Stop it! I don't know what you're talking about. Leave me alone!"

"Something's coming, Donna. Something worse than anything you've ever seen," Rose explained quickly, desperate for this woman to believe her. They only had so much time left...

"The whole world is stinking. How can anything be worse than this?" Donna demanded, voice harsh as she thought about all that had happened to her and her family so far. How could anything be worse than what was going on now?

"Trust me. We need the Doctor now more than ever. I've- I've been pulled across from a different universe because every _single_ universe is in danger." She neglected to mention how that was only one reason she was crossing dimensions. The other one was so very, very simple. "It's coming, Donna. It's coming from across the stars and nothing can stop it!"

She needed her Doctor.

"What is coming?!" Donna shouted, her patience finally gone when it came to dealing with this young girl in front of her, whose name she didn't even know.

"The darkness," Rose said quietly. Donna was about to snort before she registered the girl's tone. She made it sound like something so much worse than a few simple lights going out.

"Well, what do you keep telling me for?! What am I suppose to do? I'm nothing special. I mean- I'm-I'm not! I'm nothing special. I'm a temp. I'm not even that! I'm nothing!" Donna yelled, sounding close to hysterics at this point. Whatever was going on she wanted no part in it, she just wanted a normal life with her family...

Although why did that thought feel so wrong.

"Donna Noble...you're the most important woman in the whole of creation," Rose grinned, happily laughing as she looked at the confused woman in front of her. She also absentmindedly made a note to stop using a person's full name. She had probably gotten that from him too. Sometimes it seemed like she had gotten too much from him.

"Oh, don't. Just don't." Donna's self-depreciating laugh quickly faded into anger. Pure anger at not knowing what was happening to her life. "I'm tired. I'm so tired."

"I need you to come with me," Rose finally called as Donna started walking away. She didn't have much time left and she _needed_ Donna to trust her.

"Yeah. Well, blonde hair might work on the men but you ain't shifting me, lady."

"That's more like it," Rose grinned. Oh she couldn't wait to travel with her and the Doctor, she seemed so _feisty_.

"I've got plenty more," Donna nodded her head and grinned, even though she was silently crying. Rose couldn't help but respect and admire her for that. Even when everything seemed to be going over her she still had a quick retort ready to fly.

"Then you'll come with me, only when you want to though," Rose conceded. Donna couldn't help but bristle at the fact the girl has sounded like she was so sure that she would go with her.

"You'll have a long wait, then," Donna called back, close to chuckling in disbelief at the fact that this girl was underestimating just how stubborn she could be.

"Not really," Rose replied, "Just three weeks. Tell me, does your grandfather still own that telescope?" Rose asked, she also couldn't help but love being the enigmatic one, just for once. She could see why the Doctor loved it so much. Rose grinned as she watched Donna whirl around and stare at her in shock.

"He never lets go of it," she said softly, voice close to tears again.

"Three weeks time. But you've got to be certain because when you come with me Donna, sorry, so sorry, but you're...you're gonna die," Rose explained sadly. If this could be done any other way she wouldn't hesitate in a second...but this time she had no choice in the matter.

Donna was left wondering if she had finally lost it as she watched Rose fade away right in front of her.

::

Rose took deep breaths as she managed to stand in the control room without falling to the ground. Before anyone could even speak to her she had the cannon bracelet off and thrown to the nearest scientist. She was then out the door and down the hall, looking for somewhere to collapse.

When she felt two people lock arms with her and drag her towards a spare room she couldn't be more grateful for her friends. "It's okay to cry, Rosie," Jake said softly, Rose finally hiccuping before quickly wrapping her arms around Jake and burying into his side, Mickey quietly sitting down beside them. She had almost managed to hold on but hearing someone call her Rosie...

"Y-You remember C-Captain Jack, yeah, Mickey?" Rose asked, turning her head to look at him. Mickey nodded uncertainly as he grasped her hand and held on tight. Rose hiccuped before clutching the two even tighter. "H-He...he was there. B-But I couldn't... I couldn't _do_ anything!" she cried, Jake looking like he didn't quite know what to do while Mickey pulled the girl's top half into his side. "I couldn't even tell him I was there!"

Jake and Mickey shared a look before nodding, both deciding that they would stay there as long as Rose needed. They knew she missed the Doctor but it was at times like this they realized just _how much_ she missed the man who had been in her life for so long.

::

When Rose had finally cried herself out she ended up falling asleep, sprawled across the two's laps. Mickey looked like he wanted to move her to a proper bed but Jake just looked amused as he settled in before looking over at his best friend who he had finally come to see was different from Rickey, even if the two did act rather similar. "So...I take it this Captain Jack was rather important?"

Mickey nodded while carefully brushing a stray lock of hair out of Rose's face. "Yeah...he used to travel back with her and the Doctor a while ago...back when the Doctor wore that stupid leather jacket and sounded like a bloke from the North," the man snorted before Rose shifted around in his lap, even though the two were being quiet.

"Lotsa planets have a north," Rose murmured softly before burying herself back into Mickey's jacket, who looked shocked. Jake just looked confused as he stared down at Rose before looking at his friend. He then grew even more confused.

"Wanna tell me why you look like you're about to burst out laughing?" Jake asked, Mickey just shaking his head and trying not to laugh and wake up the blonde in his lap.

"It's just... Those two are in it deep," he muttered before grinning at the man sitting beside him. "Once we get them back we're gonna have to do something to make sure they stay there, otherwise who knows what will happen to them if they get separated again."

"Probably tear the universes apart," Jake chuckled, Mickey nodding in agreement as he looked at the girl in their laps gently. He had long since given Rose up to the Doctor, even back when he had worn that leather jacket. Coming to this universe had only made him throw in the towel for good.

"I'm starting to think there's nothing those two won't do for each other," Mickey said softly, Jake nodding his head in agreement. How far would these two starcrossers go, just to stay by each others side? Rose had almost torn herself apart to get back to him, and who knew what that idiot Doctor had done when she wasn't there to keep him on track.

"By the way..." Jake asked slowly, "How did the Doctor sound like he was from the north if he sounds like he's from London? And he didn't exactly look the type to wear leather..." Mickey chuckled at that, fingering Rose's own leather jacket. If he hadn't known he never had a fighting chance at her he would have when she picked that blue jacket of hers.

"You should have seen his ears," Mickey snickered, suddenly yelping when he felt something pinch his arm. Hard. "What was that for," the man hissed towards Jake, who just held his hands up to show he hadn't done anything. Mickey titled his head in confusion before looking down towards Rose and raising an eyebrow at the twitching smile.

"Told you, no insulting the Doctor. Past or previous." At that Mickey sighed, really he should have known by now. He never really had managed to get away with insulting the man.

::

"_Lodestone testing now at fifteen point four. Repeat, fifteen point four." _

Donna looked around the large warehouse in shock at what was all around her. It looked to be filled with scientific equipment she had no clue about, and too many soldiers and scientists to keep track of. Donna followed Rose through the warehouse where she walked towards what looked to be a large computer terminal.

"Ma'am," a woman officer saluted Rose, who just frowned and held her hands up in annoyance before working her way around the woman and to the computer.

"I told you, don't salute," Rose muttered. Now she knew why the Doctor had always hated that so much. It was just so...irritating. That was the only way she could explain it.

"Well, if you're not going to tell us your name," the officer replied while grinning. Rose frowned, she knew the woman just loved annoying her, it was all she could do to get back at the fact that Rose refused to tell her all the facts about what was going on. There was simply too much she couldn't say, and UNIT never seemed to realize that.

Ugh...the Doctor was right to hate being in places like this.

"What, you don't know either?" Donna asked, sounding surprised as Rose started pulling up the files she needed.

"I've crossed too many different times and realities," Rose explained while flipping through to what she needed, "Trust me, the wrong word in the wrong place can change an entire casual nexus." And damn if she didn't feel proud of being able to know what she was talking about for once. She also couldn't help but think that her mom had been right so long ago when she had still been by the Doctor's side.

She was like him. Although...she supposed that was just something that happened when you ended up falling in love with a thousand or so year old Time Lord. She couldn't stop the small snort that escaped her when she thought about what he had said his age was. 900...right... He was either lying or he had lost count and his big Time Lord ego wouldn't let him admit it.

"She talks like that. A lot," the officer sighed, Rose grinning. She enjoyed annoying the woman back as much as she enjoyed annoying her. Maybe it was just a time traveler thing, not liking the military. Or it was just a Doctor thing. "And you must be Miss Noble."

"Donna," the woman nodded, still trying to look around without being too surprised at what was going on. Rose thought she was doing a rather good job. Better than Mickey when he had first seen the TARDIS, that had...that had not gone over well.

"Captain Erisa Magambo," the Captain smiled. "Thank you for this."

"I don't even know what I'm doing," Donna spoke back, Rose looking up from the computer as she did so. She should probably distract the woman before she ended up having a full blown panic attack.

"Is she awake?" Rose asked, looking excited at seeing the Doctor's beloved ship again. She always would feel like a little child next to that ancient box, how could one not?

"Seems to be quiet today," Magambo replied. "Ticking over. Like it's waiting," she explained as the trio of women walked over towards the large blue box that was hooked up to connectors and equipment on the outside. Rose had been very specific when saying what was allowed where.

"Do you want to see her?" Rose asked, grinning as she looked at the blue wooden box standing in front of her, still proud even though she was so, so tired.

"What's a police box?" Donna asked, sounding like she didn't really care either way. Although...something about this box... Something was familiar about it.

"They salvaged it from underneath the Thames. Just go inside." She was gonna love watching this, it had been amusing enough when the scientists had been ranting about _her _going against everything they had ever known. Rose wished she could have gotten it on camera, just to see the Doctor's reaction to it.

"What for?" Donna asked. Really...it was just a _box_.

"Just go in," Rose jerked her head towards the box, tone of voice saying she didn't have much of a choice. Donna rolled her eyes before slowly walking towards it and entering, Rose smiling the whole time.

"No. Way." Rose couldn't help but let out a small laugh as Donna stepped back out of the box and backed up, checking the outside before going back inside and then out again. Watching Donna Rose now knew why the Doctor enjoyed that so much. It was rather fun to watch.

"What do you think?" Rose asked, trying not to laugh again.

"Can I have a coffee?" Oh she knew there was a reason the Doctor liked her.

::

"Time And Relative Dimension In Space, or TARDIS," Rose grinned, circling the console and letting one hand trail over the levers and buttons gently. "This room used to shine with light, and it was beautiful! Oh you should have seen her play music! Any song you could think of, and then some, and the lights would keep in time with the tempo...it was beautiful... Especially when she played In the Mood, by Glen Miller..."

"Didn't much take you for a jazz lover," Donna half-grinned, watching as Rose seemed to come out of her thoughts before giving her a shaky smile and laughing.

"Oh I wasn't...only for that song..." Shaking her head Rose gently placed her hand on the large column in the middle, the time rotor. Donna wasn't quite sure how she knew that but she brushed it off as maybe just having heard it said earlier. "I think she's dying..." Donna looked sadly at the young girl in the pure pain she had heard in her voice.

Donna watched in shock as the rotor moved just a little bit, a small sound that seemed so familiar. "Still trying to help, just like always," Rose murmured sadly before feeling a faint hum at the back of her mind, almost as if it was barely there. Rose Tyler in the TARDIS...it sounded so, so wrong.

So very wrong without the Doctor.

"And...and it belonged to the Doctor?" Donna asked, Rose having to fight the urge to correct her to use 'she' and not 'it'. She could do that later, when the Doctor was here with her to get defensive over his ship.

"He was a Time Lord," Rose explained softly, "He was the last of the Time Lords..."

"But if he was so special then what was he doing with me?" Out of everything that she had learned that was the part that shocked her most. Why would someone who sounded so brilliant be with someone like her...

"He thought you were brilliant," Rose smiled, stating it as if it were fact.

"Don't be stupid," Donna scoffed, taking a drink of her coffee. Rose just shook her head in response.

"But you are. It just took the Doctor to show you that, just by being with him. He did the same to me...he does the same to everyone he touches..." she said proudly, trying to ignore the way her voice sounded thick. She quickly took a sip from her own mug, trying to buy herself enough time to collect her thoughts.

It was true though. The Doctor made everyone he touched so much better...he showed them a different way, a better way, of living one's life. When that thought crossed her mind she remembered what she had told her mom and Mickey, all those years ago when the Doctor had first tried to send her back.

"_It was a better life. And I don't mean all the traveling and seeing aliens and spaceships and things. That don't matter. The Doctor showed me a better way of living your life. You know he showed you too. That you don't just give up! You don't just let things happen! You make a stand. You say no. You have the guts to do what's right when everyone else just runs away!"_

"Were you and him?" Donna asked quietly, tilting her head to the side curiously. Rose tried not to let the hurt show on her face but judging by Donna's expression she probably didn't do that good a job. Honestly she wasn't sure what those two were anymore... Looking over at Donna her hand absentmindedly touched the woman's shoulder.

"Do you want to see it?"

"No." Rose just kept grinning. She knew she would give. "Go on, then."

::

Rose stared down at Donna sadly. She knew the woman would go back to the right universe and she would barely even remember this...but she was still sad that she had to have done this in the first place. Bending down Rose smiled softly at the woman, so glad that she had trusted her.

"Tell him this," Rose whispered into her ear. "Two words." Quickly whispering the words in Donna's ear she grinned as the woman almost seemed to vanish. "Almost there, Doctor. So very close..." Rose laughed, full of joy as the world around her slowly faded away. She wasn't sure if it was the world or if it was her being pulled back.

She knew the Doctor would assume the worst when he heard those words, that he would think it was a message for the end of the universe. Well...he wouldn't exactly be wrong...but hopefully he would understand the second message of those words. Those beautiful and _fantastic _words that had helped to lead her back to him.

His Wolf was coming back to her Storm.

* * *

*howling wolf sound* That's riiight! Soon, oh very soon, Rose and the Doctor meet again! *bouncing in seat* Just gotta get through a few rough patches...honestly...I don't think Rose would have carried that huge gun. She's too much like the Doctor, hating guns and weapons. Hm...


End file.
